I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS J 

t i 

I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. K 



STARTLING FACTS;' 



OR, 



Deeds of Darkness Disclosed 



RELATIVE TO 



AURICULAE CONFESSION, 

• AND ITS RELATIONS TO 

SACERDOTAL CELIBACY, CONVENTS, MONASTERIES, MORALITY, 
AND CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 



BY 

/ 

EEV. J. G. WHITE, 

Author of the "Protestant Missionary," and other Anti-roman 
Publications. 



^^And have no fellowship with the tinfruitful works of darkness^ but rathey 

reprove them J'"' — Paul. 



CINCINNATI: " *' ' 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 

1875. 



Q^'cOPYRlGHrm 







Entered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1875, 

BY J. G. WHITE, 

In the Office of tiie Librarian of Congress, at Wasliington, D. C. 



PREFACE. 



The present volume is offered to the public as the 
first of a series of works in which the author proposes 
to expose Homanism and defend Protestantism. This 
work devotes special attention to Auricular Confession, 
its corrupting and intolerant influences. The confessional 
is regarded as the main pillar of Popery, the instrument 
of a despotic clerical power, and the arch-key of the 
whole superstructure of the Papacy, without which it 
would crumble to the dust. 

This book is intended to be an embodiment of facts 
and documentary evidence of the pernicious influences 
of the confessional. It is a beacon-light to warn Protest- 
ants against the seductive influence of the confessional in 
connection with professed sacerdotal celibacy and convent 
life. It is also intended to show that Auricular Confession 
degrades and enslaves its votaries, and that through it the 
Roman clergy are endeavoring to subvert and destroy the 
principles of civil and religious liberty throughout the 
world ; and that their energies are especially concen- 
trated against the Government of the United States, 



4 PREFACE, 

with a determination to destroy it, and on its ruins 
establish a Papal despotism. 

This book was written in the midst of numerous and 
pressing professional engagements; and if it does not 
possess variety, it should not be attributed to the monot- 
ony of surrounding circumstances. It has been written 
while traveling thousands of miles, and at intervals be- 
tween lectures, at hotels, between sermons, at protracted 
meetings, when often surrounded by the domestic circle, 
and occasionally at home, when resting from the fatigues 
of a journey, and at all hours of day and night. The nu- 
merous references to authorities has required the contin- 
ued presence of a small select traveling library of Roman 
books. We submit the work to the careful consideration 
of a generous American people, conscious that, while its 
style may be subject to criticism, it contains important 
facts which challenge investigation. 

Frequent abortive efforts have been made by Ro- 
manists to assassinate the author, and he has the positive 
evidence that they intend to take his life. He therefore 
puts these facts in form to speak for themselves ; and, 
if he falls by the hand of an assassin, he will fall in 
defense of outraged and insulted virtue, and ii\\\ fearlesslt/ 
at his post, battling for virtue, for liberty, for truth, for 
the right, for the salvation of man, and for the honor 

of God. 

THE AUTHOR. 

Jacksonville, III., Feb. 1, 1875. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

CHAPTEE I. 
Introdfctort, . . . \ 7 



CHAPTEE II. 
Auricular Confession Defined, . . . . .12 

CHAPTEE III. 
Auricular Confession Further Defined, ... 26 

CHAPTEE lY. 
The Seal of Sacramental Confession, .... 33 

^ ^CHAPTEE Y. 
The Confessional, , .52 

CHAPTEE YI. 
Sins, Mortal and Yenial, . . . . . .63 

CHAPTEE YII. 
Power op the Keys, . . . . . . .76 

CHAPTEE YIII. 

The Clergy and Concubines, 90 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



CHAPTEE IX. 
Clerical Seduction, how Concealed, .... 99 

CHAPTEE X. 
Corruption of the Confessional, ..... 109 

CHAPTEE XI. 
Corruption of the Confessional, Continued, , . 115 

CHAPTEE XII. 
Corruption of the Confessional, Continued, . . 134 

CHAPTEE XIII. 
The Confessional a Thief-trap, .... 143 

CHAPTEE XIY. 
The Confessional enslaves Men, 149 

CHAPTEE XY. 
Protestant Slaves to the Confessional, , , . 15G 

CHAPTEE XYI. 
Prison-pens for American Daughters, . . . . 170 

CHAPTEE XYH. 
Papal Conspiracy aided through the Confessional, . 174 

CHAPTEE XYIII. 
Eomish Intolerance enforced through the Confessional, 209 



AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER I. 
I NTRODUCTORY. 



rpHE intolerant, despotic power of the Church of 
-^ Rome over the souls and bodies of men is main- 
tained by the direct influence of the confessional. The 
crime and licentiousness of cities and nations has been, 
and is now, in proportion to the unrestrained influence of 
the confessional. Civil and religious liberty struggle in 
vain for existence where its obligations are universally 
recognized. It therefore becomes the duty of all true 
patriots to investigate the principles of an institution, 
the influence of which is evil, and only evil, continually. 
To comprehend the moral degradation and abject 
servitude which result from the Romish Confessional, it 
is necessary, first, to understand its principles, its obli- 
gations, its practices, and its legitimate results. Such 
is the nature of the subject, and such are the facts con- 
nected with its investigation, that a regard for decency 
precludes the possibility of full disclosures. 



8 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

To form a correct estimate of the horrible corruption 
of the confessional, reference must be had to the secret 
theology and ritual of the Homan clergy, much of which 
should not be translated, nor published for promiscuous 
readers. In this work we can only coast along the shore 
of a boundless ocean of filth. We dare not disturb the 
scum of its smallest adjacent cesspool. Its exhalations 
are infected with moral pestilence; and protracted con- 
tact with its poisoned waters often results in eternal 
death. 

The necessity for Auricular Confession is predicated 
on the false and blasphemous assumption of the Homan 
clergy, who arrogate to themselves the titles of vice- 
gerents and vicars of Jesus Christ, possessed of judicial 
power as God to forgive or retain sin, and to save or 
damn the souls of men at pleasure. And so absolute is 
this' power that if a priest, in confession, refuse to par- 
don a penitent, Jesus Christ himself can not do it. 

Notwithstanding this blasphemous assumption of 
power, priests are compelled to admit that they do not 
possess all the attributes of God ; they are not omnis- 
cient nor omnipresent; and they are chiefly dependent 
on the extorted confessions of transgressors for their 
know^ledge of sins committed. Under these circum- 
stances they are as liable to be mistaken, deceived, and 
imposed upon, as other men. When confession is made, 
the priest does not know whether it is true or false, par- 
tial or thorough, feigned or sincere. And the penitent, 
if sincere, does not know whether he has confessed all, 



INTRODVCTORY. 9 

or forgotten a part of his sins. And if the penitent is 
sincere, and is sure that he has confessed all mortal sins, 
and the priest has pronounced absolution in the usual 
form, the penitent does not know that the priest had the 
requisite intention, without which his pretended absolu- 
tion is a blasphemous ecclesiastical farce. 

In order to expedite this difficult work of Romish 
pardon and salvation, the clergy have instituted Auricu- 
lar Confession, which will receive attention in the follow- 
ing pages. This book is intended to meet the wants of 
the general reader, which fact will preclude the possibil- 
ity of extended quotations from the corrupt, secret, Latin 
theology of the Roman clergy. The most chaste ex- 
tracts are only admissible in consideration of correcting 
or preventing the evil influence. Ministers and men of 
age are referred to the original, which are before us, and 
can not be successfully denied nor defended. 

Auricular Confession, in the hands of the Roman 
clergy, is the masterpiece of the devil's workmanship, the 
arch-key of the whole superstructure of clerical power. 
{^Strike down the confessional, and professed sacerdotal 
celibacy Avill be discarded, convent life will lose many of 
its attractions, " foundling institutions " will be less pat- 
ronized, and " Magdalene institutions " and houses of the 
" Good Shepherd," Avill be less in demand for clerical pros- 
titutes. ^ Abolish the confessional, and the clerical power 
of Rome will vanish with it, and millions who are now 
crushed by Popish despotism, will enjoy civil and re- 
lioious libertv. No class of men understand these facts^ 



10 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

better than the Roman clergy; and hence their furt/ 
when these secret abominations are exposed. 

We have had much experience on this subject. Re- 
peated mob violence, and efforts at assassination, have 
been employed in vain to suppress the facts. The truth 
must and shall be proclaimed. The abominations of the 
confessional shall be exposed till its corrupting influences 
are understood, and until it shall be declared a nuisance, 
and suppressed by legal enactments. If there is a law 
in the land for the suppression of brothels, it might, Avith 
equal propriety, be enforced also against this prolific 
source of licentiousness. 

Let Protestant parents understand the rehition which 
priests sustain to nuns in the confessional, and they will 
cease to patronize convents. Let husbands understand 
the libidinous questions which bachelor priests are au- 
thorized to propound to their waives in confession, and 
their just indignation will demand redress. Let the 
people understand that the Roman clergy are the trucu- 
lent minions of an ecclesiastical despot, and that through 
the confessional they are prostituting virtue, corrupting 
society, and endeavoring to subvert the institutions of 
the nation, and enlightened public sentiment will consign 
the confessional to merited infamy. 

We are impelled to the publication of this work by 
the fact that Protestants generally have no just concep- 
tion of the " mystery of iniquity " now practiced in our 
midst by the " mother of harlots." Also, from the fact 
-that eomnaon decency wdll forever preclude the possibility 



INTRODUCTORY. 11 

of disclosing the worst to a select company of men, much 
less in a work for general readers. 

The well-being of society demands that sufficient light 
be shed on this most detestable system of darkness to 
guard the unsuspecting against its seductive influences. 

This work is intended to arrest attention, and disclose 
such facts as may be prudently presented to the general 
reader, with the hope that men of mature years, and 
especially ministers of the Gospel, may be induced to 
examine more thoroughly this prolific source of licen- 
tiousness, which is subverting the virtue of youth, and 
jeopardizing the souls of millions. We predicate our 
statements on books and documents before us which chal- 
lenge investigation, and we defiantly hurl the facts in 
the face of the Roman clergy. Such a system of un- 
blushing licentiousness shall not escape merited rebuke 
and public exposure. 

Trusting for success to the justness of our cause, and 
to that power which guided the sling of David, we hurl 
this pebble of truth at the brazen pate of the " man of 
sin," and pray God to smite him to the dust. 



12 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER II. 

AURICULAR CONFESSION DEFINED. 

A URICULAH Confession is a modern invention, a 
-^ device of wicked men, and a prolific source of 
crime and licentiousness. It is not authorized in the 
Word of God, nor sanctioned by common sense. It was 
not known to Moses nor the prophets, and it was not 
taught by Jesus Christ, nor by his apostles. It origi- 
nated in ignorance and superstition, and can only be per- 
petuated by this influence. Auricular Confession is 
literally confession in the ear of a priest in order to ob- 
tain judicial absolution from all mortal sins committed 
after baptism. Roman theology teaches that baptism 
pardons original sin, and that the Roman clergy, by the 
" power of the keys," grant judicial pardon as God, for 
all mortal sins committed by their faithful after baptism, 
and is thus defined: "Confession, then, is defined a 
•sacramental accusation of one's self, made to obtain 
pardon by virtue of the keys." (Catechism of Trent, 
p. 191.) 

Previous to the Lateran Council, A. D. 1215, the 
confession of sin was an optional thing in the Church of 
Rome. In the midnight darkness of the world it had 
increasing popularity for two centuries. The flagrant 



AUEICULAB CONFESSION DEFINED, 13 

licentiousness of bishops and popes of this period de- 
manded secrecy, or otherwise the entire suspension of 
confession in any form. Confession to God, and public 
confession in presence of the Church, had been long 
practiced ; but the debauchery of the clergy and popes, 
and consequent corruption of the people, brought pub- 
lic confession into disrepute and furnished strong induce- 
ments to conceal vice. 

Confession had been recommended; but it had no 
sovereign sanctions to enforce it, no canon or bull to 
compel it throughout the Roman Church previous to 
A. D. 1215, and the new dogma was not confirmed till 
the Council of Trent in its fourteenth session, A. D. 
1557, the canons of which clearly defined the doctrine, 
as follows : 

" Canon 1. Whoever shall affirm that penance, as used in 
the Catholic Church, is not truly and properly a sacrament, 
instituted by Christ our Lord, 'for the benefit of the faithful, to 
reconcile them to God, as often as they shall fall into sin after 
baptism, LET HIM BE ACCUESEB." 

" Canon 3. Whoever shall affirm that the words of the Lord 
our Saviour, 'Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall 
forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins j^ou shall re- 
tain the}^ are retained ;' are not to be understood of the power 
of forgiving and retaining sins in the sacrament of penance, 
as the Catholic Church has always from the very first under- 
stood them ; but shall restrict them to the authority of preach- 
ing the Gospel, in opposition to the institution of this sacra- 
ment, LET HIM BE ACCUESEH." 

*'■ Canon 6. Whoever shall deny that sacramental confession was 
instituted by Divine command, or that it is necessary to salva- 
tion ; or shall affirm that the practice of secretly confessing to the 
priest alone, as it has been ever observed from the beginning 
by the Catholic Church, and is still observed, is foreign to the 



14 ATJEICULAE CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

institution and command of Christ, and is a human invention, 
LET HIM BE ACCUESED." 

" Canon 7. Whoever shall affirm that, in order to obtain for- 
giveness of sins in the sacrament of penance, it is not by Di- 
vine command necessary to confess all and every mortal sin 
which occurs to the memory after due and diligent premedita- 
tion, including secret offenses, etc., LET HIM BE ACCHESED." 

"Canon 8. Whoever shall affirm that the confession of every 
sin, according to the custom of the Church, is impossible and 
merely a human tradition, which the pious should reject; or 
that all Christians^ of both sexes, are not hound to observe the same 
once a year, according to the constitution of the great Council 
of Lateran, and therefore that the faithful in Christ are to be 
persuaded not to confess in Lent, LET HIM BE ACCUESED." 

"Canon 9. Whoever shall affirm that the priest's sacramen- 
tal absolution is not a judicial act, but only a ministry, to pro- 
nounce and declare thai the sins of the party confessing are 
forgiven, so that he believes himself to be absolved, even 
though the priest should not absolve seriously, but in jest; or 
shall affirm that the confession of the penitent is not necessary 
in order to obtain absolution from the priest, LET HIM BE 
ACCUESED." 

These are only a portion of the canons which define 
Auricular Confession. In conformity to the above de- 
crees, Pope Pius V. approved the Catechism of Trent as 
the infallible exponent of canon law, and it is now so 
regarded. The Bible itself is required to conform to its 
teaching. On page 190 we have the following, as trans- 
lated into English by Hev. J. Donovan, Professor, etc., 
Royal College, Maynooth : 

" Contrition, it is true, blots out sin ; but who is ignorant, 
that to effect this, it must be so intense, so ardent, so vehement, 
as to bear a proportion to the magnitude of the crimes which 
it effaces? This is a degree of contrition which few reach, and 
hence, through perfect contrition alone very few indeed could, 
hope to obtain the pardon of their sins. It therefore became 



AURICULAR CONFESSION DEFINED. 15 

necessary that the Almiglity, in his mercy, should afford a less 
precarious and JesS difficult means of reconciliation and of sal- 
vation ; and this he has done, in his admirable wisdom, by 
giving to his Church the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Ac- 
cording to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, a doctrine 
firmly to be believed and professed by all her children, if the 
sinner have recourse to the tribunal of penance with a sincere 
sorrow for his sins, and a firm resolution of avoiding them in 
future, although he bring not with him that contrition which 
may be sufiicient of itself, to obtain pardon of sin, his sins are 
forgiven by the minister of religion, through the power of 
the keys. Justly, then, do the holy fathers proclaim that by 
the keys of the Church the gate of heaven is thrown open; 
a truth which the decree of the Council of Florence, declaring 
that the effect of penance is absolution from sin, renders it 
imperative on all unhesitatingly to believe." 

Again, on page 192 : 

"Invested, then, as they are, evidently appointed judges of 
the matter on which they are to pronounce; and as, according 
to the wise admonition of the Council of Trent, we can not form 
an accurate judgment on anj^ matter, or award to crime a just 
proportion of punishment, without having previously examined 
and made ourselves acquainted with the cause; hence, arises a 
necessity, on the part of the penitent, of making known to the 
priest, through the medium of confession, each and every sin. 
This doctrine, a doctrine defined by the holy Synod of Trent, 
the uniform doctrine of the Catholic Church, the pastor will 
teach. . . . When, with uncovered head and bended knees, 
with eyes fixed on the earth, and hands raised in sup])lication 
to heaven, and with other indications of Christian humility not 
essential to the sacrament, we confess our sins; our minds are 
thus dceplj" impressed with the clear conviction of the heavenly 
virtue of the sacraments, and also of the necessity of humbly 
imploring and earnestly importuning the mercy of Grod. 
To obtain admittance into any place, the concur- 
rence of him to whom the keys have been committed is neces- 
sar}''; and therefore, as the metaphor implies, to gain admission 
into heaven, its gates must be opened to us by the power of the 
keys, confided by Almighty God to the care of his Church. 



16 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

"This power should otherwise be nugatory: if heaven can 
be entered without the power of the keys, in vain shall they to 
whose fidelity they have been intrusted, assume the prerogative 
of jprohibiting indiscriminate entrance within its portals." 

Again, on page 193 : 

"According to the Council of Lateran, which begins ' Omnis 
utriusque sexus,' no person is bound by the law of confession 
until he has arrived at the use of reason, a time determinable 
by no fixed number of years. It may, however, be laid down 
as a general principle, that children are bound to go to confes- 
sion as soon as they are able to discern good from evil, and are 
capable of malice; for when arrived at an age to attend to the 
work of salvation, every one is bound to have recourse to the 
tribunal of penance, without which the sinner can not hope 
for salvation. In the same canon the Church has defined the 
period, within which we are bound to discharge the duty of 
confession : it commands all the faithful to confess their sins at 
least once a year. If, however, we consult for our eternal inter- 
ests, we will certain!}^ not neglect to have recourse to confession 
as often, at least, as we are in danger of death, or undertake to 
perform any act incompatible with the state of sin, such as to 
administer or receive the sacraments." 

Again, on page 194 : 

" All mortal sins must be revealed to the minister of religion ; 
venial sins, which do not separate us from the grace of God. 
and into which we fi-equently fall, although, as the experience 
of the pious proves, proper and profitable to be confessed, may 
be omitted without sin, and expiated b}' a variety of other 
means. Mortal sins, as we have already said, although buried 
in the darkest secrecy, and also sins of desire onh^ such as are 
forbidden by the Ninth and Tenth Commandments, are all and 
each of them to be made a matter of confession. Such secret 
sins often inflict deeper wounds on the soul than those which 
are committed openly and publicly. . . . Some circum- 
stances are such as, of themselves, to constitute mortal guilt; 
on no account or occasion whatever, therefore, are such circum- 
stances to be omitted. Has any one imbrued his hands in the 
blood of his fellow-man? He must state whether his victim 



AURICULAR CONFESSION DEFINED. 17 

was a layman or an ecclesiastic. Has he had criminal inter- 
course with any one? He must state whether the female was 
married or unmarried, a relative, or a person consecrated to God 
by vow." 

THE PRIEST FORGIVES ALL SORTS OF SINS. 

Again, on page 196 : 

" But in case of imminent danger of death, when recourse can 
not be had to the proper priest, that none may perish, the 
Council of Trent teaches, that, according to the ancient prac- 
tice of the Church of God, it is then lawful for any priest not 
only to remit all sorts of sins, whatever faculties they might 
otherwise require, but also to absolve from excommunication." 

These extracts from canons and the Catechism of the 
Council of Trent may be examined with care, as we shall 
presently have use for them. It may also be observed 
that while the priest may be in flagrant violation of the 
Seventh Commandment of the decalogue — Sixth of the 
Douay Bible — he professes to have power to absolve his 
accomplice in crime from all other sins, and in case of 
danger of death from that sin also. This last fact will 
receive attention in subsequent pages. 

All the approved theology of the Homan Church, and 
all public and private instruction, is required to conform 
strictly to the teaching of the Council of Trent. This 
fact will be more apparent by reference to the catechisms 
and manuals in the hands of the laity and the secret 
theology for the instruction of the clergy. 

We here introduce extracts from the common cate- 
chisms and other books in general use throughout the 

United States, with the approbation of the bishops. 

2 



18 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

POOK MAN'S CATECHISM. 

On page 140, we find the following : 

"the third precept of the church expounded. 

" Q. What is the third precept of the Church ? 

" A. To confess our sins to our pastor at least once a year. 

" §. Why was this commanded? 

*■'• A. Because libertines would not otherwise have done it 
once in many years. 

"Instruction. — This precept is contained in a canon of the 
fourth Council of Lateran, under Innocent the Third, held in 
the year of our Lord 1215, which was confirmed by the Council 
of Trent, Sess. xiv., c. v., and can. 8, whereby all the faithful, 
of both sexes, are strictly enjoined to confess their sins to their 
proper pastor once in a year at least ; and to receive the sacra- 
ment of the holy Eucharist at Easter, as soon as they come to 
years of discretion sufficient for each sacrament. This precept, 
then, begins to bind us as soon as we begin to have the full use 
of reason, so as to commit mortal sin, and to be capable of the 
sacrament, which, in some, is sooner, in some later.* The Church 
does not particularly prescribe the time of the year when we 
ought to confess ; j'et, as we are obliged to communicate at 
Easter, which can not be rightly done in a state of sin, it is evi- 
dent that all those who, at that time, are in mortal sin are ob- 
liged then to confess. 

" Though the precept of the Church obliges us to confess but 
once a year to restrain libertines, yet many circumstances may 
occur, in which, by the divine precept, we are obliged to confess 
oftener. 1. In all dangers of life, as when dangerously sick, or 
condemned to die, or when soldiers are to go to battle, or mer- 
chants to go a hazardous voyage, and are conscious of any mortal 
sin to themselves; in such dangers (life so uncertain), they are 
bound to confession ; because, in all perils of life, we are bound 
to prepare ourselves for death. Ought any one that knows 
himself to be in a bad state, considering the uncertainty of life, 
run the risk of a delay? 2. Before we receive the other sacra- 
ments, if guilty of mortal sin, we are bound, first, to confess; 
because such sin is opposite to divine grace, and must, of 



AURICULAR CONFESSION DEFINED. 19 

necessity, hinder the blessed effect of the sacraments we receive, 
baptism excepted; for baptism being the first sacrament, by it 
we must be made Christians before we can receive any of the 
Christian sacraments; therefore, sacramental confession is not 
required before baptism, but only contrition in adult persons. 
Neither does every sort of confession satisfy our obligation ; but 
we are to make a true and entire confession, which can not be 
done without a previous and careful examen of our life and 
conscience." 

Bishop Butler's Catechism, which is approved and 
in use on both continents, contains the following, on 
page 41 : • 

" Q- What means the commandment of confessing our sins 
at least once a year? 

" A. It means that we are threatened with very severe pen- 
alties by the Church if we do not go to confession within the 
year. 

" Q. Does a bad confession satisfy the obligation of confess- 
ing our sins once a year? 

"JL. So far from it that it renders us more guilty by the 
additional crime of sacrilege. 

" Q. Is it sufficient to go but once a year to confession? 

'•^ A. No; frequent confession is necessary for all those who 
fall into mortal sin, or who desire to advance in virtue. 

" Q. At. what age are children obliged to go to confession? 

" A. As soon as they are capable of committing sin ; that is, 
when they come to the use of reason, which is generally sup- 
posed to be about the age of seven years." 

Thus the obligation binds all, beginning with children 
seven years of age. And to this agrees the Catechism 
of Trent, and numerous other catechisms published by 
bishops on both continents. 

A general catechism for the use of Romanists in the 
United States, and "approved by the Most Rev. John 



20 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Hughes, D. D., Archbishop of New York," contains, on 
page 41, the following : 

" Q. What is confession ? 

"^. Confession is to accuse ourselves of all our sins to a 
priest, in order to obtain absolution. 

" Q. How must we declare our sins? 

"^. We must declare the number of our sins, and their 
different kinds. 

" Q. Must we declare all our sins? 

"A. We must declare all our mortal sins; for, if we were 
to conceal willfully any mortal sin, we should not obtain the 
forgiveness of anj^, and we should besides commit a sacrilege. 

" Q. What must we do to obtain an exact knowledge of all 
our sins? 

"A. We must carefully examine our consciences upon the 
commandments of God and of the Church, and see in what we 
have sinned upon each of these commandments. 

" Q. In what sentiments should we present ourselves before 
the priest, when we are going to confession? 

"J.. We should kneel, and begin our confession as criminals 
who implore the mercy of God, viewing Jesus Christ in the 
person of the priest." 

Again, page 43 : 

" Q. How ought we to accuse ourselves of our sins ? 

"J[. We ought to accuse ourselves of our sins with much 
sincerity and humility, and begin by those we have most diffi- 
culty in declaring. 

" Q. What should we do when the confessor puts us 
questions? 

"J.. We should answer the questions of the confessor clearly 
and with simplicity 

" Q. What should we do when we have finished declaring 
our faults? 

"J.. After telling our sins, we should finish the Confiteor, 
1 confess to Almighty God, etc. ; then listen with attention to 
the advice which the confessor may think proper to give. 

" Q. What ought we to do whilst the priest is giving 
absolution ? 



AURICULAR CONFESSION DEFINED. 21 

"J.. Whilst the priest is giving the absolution, we ought 
humbly to bow down our heads and renew our act of contrition 
with all the fervor we are capable of. 

" Q. What is absolution? 

"J.. Absolution is the forgiveness of our sins, which the 
priest imparts in virtufle of the power he has received from 
Christ. 

" Q. Can all priests exercise this power? 

" A. Only such priests as are approved of by the bishop can 
give absolution." 

Bishop David's Catechism has had a wide circulation 
in Kentucky and adjacent States nearly forty years, and 
the late edition contains the following — pages 103-105 : 

<* LESSON XIX. 

" OF CONFESSION. 

" Q. "What is confession ? 

" JL. Confession is the declaring of all our sins to a priest 
duly authorized, in order to receive absolution. 

" Q. Is confession necessary to obtain the forgiveness of 
our sins? 

" A. Yes ; confession is necessary to obtain the forgiveness 
of all mortal sins committed after baptism. 

" Q. When did our Savior command it? 

"J.. Our Savior enjoined the confession of sins, when he 
gave to his apostles the power of forgiving and of retaining 
them. 

" Q. How do you show this? 

"^. Because they could not know what sins to forgive, and 
what sins to retain, if they were not declared to them. 

" Q. Has confession been the constant practice of the Church 
in all ages? 

"J.. Yes; the faithful of all ages have had recourse to con- 
fession, to obtain the forgiveness of their sins. 

" Q. Can nothing excuse from that obligation? 

'•J.. Nothing, but impossibility, can excuse from confessing 

mortal sins. 

" Q. What must be the qualities of our confession ? 



22 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

^^ A. Confession, to be good, must have these three qualities: 
it must be humble, sincere, and entire. 

" Q. How is it humble? 

"^. We must declare our sins with sorrow and repentance, 
seeking no excuse. 

" Q. How is it sincere? 

"J.. We must declare our sins as we know them, without 
making them greater or lesser th^n they are. 

" Q. How is it entire? 

"J.. We must declare at least all our mortal sins which we 
remember, after a due examination. 

" Q. Is it enough to tell the different kinds of sins we have 
committed ? 

" A. No ; we must also tell the number as nearly as we can, 
and the chief circumstances that may increase our guilt. 

" Q. What if one would have no sorrow for his sins, or 
would conceal a mortal sin in confession? 

"J.. He would, in both cases, commit a great crime, by 
telling a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make his confession invalid 
and worth nothing. 

" §. What must be done by those who, either from negligent 
examination, or by concealing their sins, or for want of con- 
trition, have made an invalid confession? 

"J.. They must, — 

'' 1. Make over again that confession, and all those which 
have followed it. 

"2. Accuse themselves of all the sacrilegious receptions of 
communion and other sacraments. 

"3. Do penance for them. 

" Q. Are there not occasions in which a general confession 
is necessary ? 

"A. A general confession is necessary for those who never 
yet approached the sacrament of penance with the necessary 
disposition, or have a reasonable doubt whether they ever did. 

" Q. What must one do who feels ashamed to declare some 
sin in confession? 

"J.. He must, — 

"1. Earnestly beg of God the grace of surmounting that 
false shame. 



A UEICULAB CONFESSION DEFINED. 23 

*' 2. Look upon the pain of confessing his sin as the first 
penance to be done for it. 

"3. Make use of considerations that may help him to over- 
come it. 

" Q. What are these considerations? 

*'^. 1. That the priest is tlie father and friend of his soul. 

"2. That tiie priest is bound, under pain of damnation, to 
absolute secrecy and silence with regard to the sins he hears 
in confession. 

" 3. That the sins one would thus conceal from one man will 
be revealed by Jesus Christ, at the last day, to the whole 
world." 

Again, from St. Liguori : 

"He who has offended God by mortal sin has no other 
remedy for his damnation but the confession of his sin. But, 
if I am sorry for it from my heart ? If I do penance for it during 
my whole life? If I go into the desert^ And live on wild herbs, and 
sleep on the ground? You may do as much as you please; but 
if you do not confess every mortal sin which you remember, 
you can not obtain pardon. I have said, a sin which you re- 
member ; for, should jom have inculpably forgotten a sin, it has 
been pardoned indirectly, if you had a general sorrow for all 
your offenses against God. It is sufficient for you to confess 
it whenever you remember it. But if you have concealed it 
voluntarily, you must then confess not only the sin which has 
been concealed, but also the others which have been confessed; 
for the confession was null and sacrilegious. 

"Accursed shame! How many poor souls does this shame 
send to hell ! St. Teresa used to say to preachers, ' Preach, dearly 
beloved priests, preach against bad confessions; for it is on 
account of bad confessions that the greater part of Christians 
are damned.' " (St. Liguori on the Commandments and Sacra- 
ments, p. 219.) 

Again : 

" A penitent at confession should imagine himself to be a 
criminal condemned to death, bound by as many chains as he 
has sins to confess, and presenting himself before a confessor, who 
holds the place of God, and who alone can loose his bonds and 



24 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

deliver him from hell. Hence, he must speak to the confessor 
with great humility," (p. 227.) 

Again : 

*'Let all who choose to advance in the way of God obey 
their confessor, who holds the place of God ; he who acts thus 
is certain that he shall not have to render to God an account 
of the actions which he performed through obedience." (p. 196.) 

" OP THE MANNER OP CONFESSING OUR SINS. 

" Q. What must we do, when kneeling at the feet of the 
priest ? 

"^. We must behold in the person of the priest that of 
Jesus Christ himself, in whose name he sits there. 

" Q. How must we consider ourselves? 

"J.. Each penitent must consider himself a criminal, who 
appears before his judge. 

" Q. How must we begin our confession? 

*' A. We must, — 

" 1. Make the sign of the cross. 
. " 2. Ask the priest's blessing, saying, Bless me, father ! for I 
have sinned. 

" 3. Say the Confiteor, or, I confess to Almighty God^ etc., as 
far as, Through my fault, etc. 

" Q. What are we to do next? 

"A. AYe must tell,— 

" 1. The time of our last confession. 

" 2. Whether we received absolution. 

*' 3 AVhether we have performed the penance enjoined upon us. 

"4. Whether we did not forget any thing in our last 
confession. 

" Q. What is the best form of confession ? 

" A. It is to say, I accuse myself of such and such a sin, so 
many times. 

'' Q. By what sin is it proper to begin our confession ? 

" A. It is proper to begin our confession by the sin which 
.gives us most uneasiness." (Bishop David's Catechism, p. 107.) 

This obligation of confession is enforced throughout 
the Homan Church. It is taught in all works on theology, 



I 



AURICULAR CONFESSION DEFINED. 25 

and in all catechetical instruction. In the Roman system 
of theology, Auricular Confession is an indispensable 
condition of reconciliation and salvation. A neglect of 
the confessional deprives the neglector of the right to the 
ordinances and immunities of the Church, and forever 
excludes him from heaven. The ingenuity of the Church 
has been taxed to impress these sentiments, and compel 
the faithful observance of the confessional. The more 
effectually to accomplish this work, penitents are contin- 
ually threatened with endless perdition if they die in 
the neglect of it. 

The following from Dr. Butler's Small Catechism, 
page 27, expresses the approved doctrine of the Church : 

" Q. Are any other condemned to hell beside the devils or 
bad angels? 

"J.. Yes; all who die enemies to God; that is, all who die 
in the state of mortal sin. 

" Q. Can any one come out of hell? 

" A. No ; out of hell there is no redemption" 

The only exception is, where they say the Virgin 
Mary sometimes interposes, and rescues souls doomed to 
endless perdition. Priests, for money, pretend to deliver 
souls from purgatory — a place which does not exist ; but 
it is reserved for Mary only to deliver from hell. (Glories 
of Mary, p. 123, etc.) 



26 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER in. 

CONFESSION FURTHER DEFINED. 

rpHE above extracts disclose many startling facts 
■^ worthy of careful consideration, some of which we 
here enumerate : 

1. The penitent, when kneeling at the feet of the 
priest " must behold in the person of the priest that of 
Jesus Christ himself, in whose name he sits there." 
This certainly requires powerful organs of vision or a 
more powerful imagination to see in the person of any 
priest, whether drunk or sober, 'Uhat of Jesus Christ 
himself r What strange perceptions must Romanists 
have when they can at one time behold Jesus Christ in 
the person of a bloated, licentious priest, and at another 
time in a drop of wine, or in the small dust of a wafer. 

2. "Each penitent must consider himself a criminal 
who appears before his judger How degrading this ab- 
ject servitude ; how lost to self-respect must be the vic- 
tims of superstition who can voluntarily surrender soul 
and body to the dictation and domination of arrogant, 
self-constituted despots. 

3. What a blasphemous assumption for mortal man, 
inflated with a self-righteous pomposity, and with his 
shirt-collar the back side before, in a long gown or petti- 



CONFESSION FUBTHER -DEFINED. 27 

coat, or with his coat-tail a foot longer th-an other men's, 
strutting in sanctimonious hypocrisy, proclaiming him- 
self God, with power over three worlds — heaven, earth, 
and hell — and ahility to save or damn the souls of men 
at pleasure; pretending to open and shut heaven and 
hell at discretion, to grant judicial pardon as God, when 
(unless he is better than required by his theology, and 
better than many of his order) he is living in debauch- 
ery, indulging his appetites, passions, and propensities. 
Shame on such blasphemous, heaven-daring, hell-deserv- 
ing insolence, which, in hypocritical mask, and in virtue's 
guise, attempts to 

" Steal the livery of the court of heaven, 
To serve the devil in ; 

And transact villainies that common sinners durst not meddle 
with." 

"Oh judgment! thou hast fled to brutish beasts, 
And men have lost their reason." 

4. The priest, in the confessional as God, pretends to 
forgive the sins of others, when at the same time he is 
liable at any moment to be eternally damned if he should 
disclose secrets from the confessional. * Thus " the man 
of sin is revealed ; the son of perdition who as God sit- 
teth in the Temple of God." (2 Thess. ii.) 

5. The penitent must " earnestly beg of God the 
grace of surmounting that false shame" etc. Thus it 
seems that in the work of seduction the " Mother of 
Harlots " is not limited within the ordinary limits of 
sensual brutality, but guided by licentious theology, her 
voluptuous sacerdotal seducers are authorized to instruct 



28 A URICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

their confiding penitents to ^^be^ of God the grace of sur- 
mounting that false shame." What more fiendish plot 
could h«ave been devised to prostitute virtue and debase 
society ? 

Modesty, the guardian angel of virtue, must be sacri- 
ficed to gratify the avarice and lust of clerical pretend- 
ers, and the intended victims are required to ^^ beg God'* 
to assist in the soul-destroying work. 

insulted justice ! how long wilt thou stay thy 
avenging arm, and permit the "Whore of Babylon'* to 
revel unrestrained, "drunk with the blood of saints," 
and virtue by her trampled to the dust ? Is there not 
some hidden curse, some bolt of heaven, red with un- 
common wrath, to blast a system which holds fiendish 
carnival amidst the ruins of fallen virtue, and laughs to 
scorn the dying agonies of lost souls ? 

6. To give respectability to this seductive system of 
clerical debauchery, we are assured by the corrupters 
that " the faithful in all ages have had recourse to con- 
fession to obtain the forgiveness of their sins." By this 
declaration they evidently intend to teach that Auricular 
Confession has been practiced in all ages. This is an 
unmitigated falsehood, only worthy the Jesuit system of 
iniquity which it is intended to propagate. 

7. One of the reasons assigned for Auricular Confes- 
sion is the ignorance of the clergy, " because they could 
not know what sins to forgive and what sins to retain, if 
they were not declared unto them." This is an honest 
confession, and it is not all nor the worst of it ; they are 



CONFESSION FURTHER DEFINED. 29 

not only ignorant of sins committed, but they have no 
power to forgive sins, whether known or otherwise. It 
is simply a blasphemous assumption, not authorized by 
the word of God, nor consistent with reason. The Bible 
throughout teaches that God only can forgive sin. God 
is omniscient; he knows all the thoughts, motives, de- 
sires, purposes, words, and actions of men. Not so the 
Roman clergy ; they do not so much as know the decep- 
tion of their own hearts ; and they have no more power 
to forgive sins judicially/ than had Judas Iscariot, or 
Simon the sorcerer. Many of them violate both the 
laws of God and man, and pretend each to grant the 
other absolution. This looks very much like Satan cast- 
ing out devils. Can it be possible that the Roman 
clergy are such consummate simpletons as to be de- 
ceived by their own clerical jugglery ? Has their rea- 
son become stultified, or have they been given over to 
reprobate minds, to "believe a lie that they may be 
damned !" It is doubtless true that many of the Roman 
clergy possess far less intelligence than is generally 
awarded to them. But after spreading the broadest man- 
tle of charity to its utmost tension, it is impossible to re- 
strain the conviction that many of them are deliberately 
practicing an unprecedented fraud upon a confiding peo- 
ple. They certainly do know that their pretended judi- 
cial absolution is a blasphemous, hypocritical, ecclesiastical 
farce, and that they are willfully deceiving their un- 
fortunate victims, and decoying them down to endless 
perdition. They most assuredly do know that they are 



30 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

instrumentally destroying the souls of their fellow- 
beings by crying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace 
for the wicked. No language can portray the conse- 
quences of this fatal deception. 

The mere gratification of ambition, avarice, or lust 
here Avill be a miserable equivalent to the clergy when 
justice is awarded by the Judge of all the earth, who 
will do right; when popes, bishops, and priests, in com- 
mon with other sinners, will stand justified, regenerated, 
and saved by grace, through faith, in the merits of 
Jesus Christ alone, or be forever condemned for reject- 
ing the only Savior of the world. Lordly titles and 
clerical robes are not the requisite qualification for 
heaven. They will be consumed by the brightness of 
His coming. And unless clothed in the righteousness of 
Jesus Christ, penitent and priest, cardinal and pope, will 
appear destitute and naked before God, the judge of the 
universe, to receive merited condemnation, and ever after 
be exposed to that storm of wrath which is now heaping 
up against the day of wrath. 

8. This pretended clerical power is again predicated 
on the assumption that Jesus Christ, in his nature 
and person as man^ judicially pardoned sins ; that he 
delegated to Peter, as man, power to forgive sins ; and 
that through Peter the Roman clergy, individually, pos- 
sess this power through an unbroken apostolical suc- 
cession. This theory is false in every member. The 
Bible nowhere teaches that in forgiving sins Jesus Christ 
acted onli/ " as man.'' 



CONFESSION FURTHER DEFINED. 31 

There is no evidence in the Bible that Jesus Christ 
conferred on Peter, or any other apostle, judicial power to 
forgive sins. 

The apostles never had apostolic successors, and the 
Bible does not show that Peter or anj other apostle ever 
exercised that power, or conferred it on a successor. 
History does not show an unbroken hol^ succession from 
Peter or any other apostle to the clergy of Borne at the 
present time. If there is any natural or clerical affinity 
with any apostle and the clergy of Rome, it most legiti- 
mately connects with Judas Iscariot, Avhose ^ penurious 
spirit they clearly manifest. There is no evidence from 
the Bible or history that Peter or any of the apostles 
went about hearing auricular confession, and forgiving 
sins, or that they appointed any person to do it for them. 
The reverse of this is true, and history and the Bible 
prove conclusively that the boasted "holy apostolic" 
succession of the Roman clergy is a myth of their own 
production, and fabricated for sordid purposes. History 
shows a long succession of popes and bishops who were 
clerical tyrants, and many of them drunken debauchees, 
by whose notorious profligacy their pretended chain of 
holt/ succession is hopelessly and ruinously broken. 

9. This whole system rests on an unsustained as- 
sumption, and that assumption is enforced by the third 
frecept of the Church, and the reason assigned for the 
third precept is, "Because lihertines would not have done 
it [confessed] once in many years." This is a tacit ad- 
mission that the Church of Rome contains within it as 



32 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

communicants such a large number of libertines that it 
became necessary to enact a law in perpetuity to regu- 
late their licentiousness. How different this system 
from the teaching of the Bible, which declares that 
" without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers !" 

The Church of Jesus Christ is not the appropriate 
place for libertines, and if the Church of Rome were a 
true and pure Church of Christ, there would be no ne- 
cessity for either the 'Hhird precept'' of the Church, or 
the confessional to regulate or restrain libertines. 



1 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 33 



CHAPTER lY. 

THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 

TN all ages of the world, wicked men "have loved 
-*- darkness rather than light, because then' deeds were 
evil ;" and never was this fact more forcibly illustrated 
than in the Romish confessional. To conceal the abom- 
inations of Auricular Confession, the highest theology of 
the Roman Church authorizes equivocation, mental res- 
ervation, falsehood, and perjury. 

For the benefit of Protestants who may not have 
access to the secret abominations of the confessional, we 
will compel Roman theologians to define the subject. 
The works from which we quote are now before us, and 
are circulated in the United States, with the approbation 
of popes and bishops. 

Beginning with the smaller catechisms, and ending 
with the higher theological works, the obligation of 
secrecy is enforced, under the most solemn sanctions and 
the most aw^ful penalties : 

"The priest is bound, under pain of damnation, tO' absolute 
secrecy and silence, with regard to the sins he hears in con- 
fession." (Bishop David's Catechism, p.- 105.) 

"Know that the confessor is bound to suffer himself to be 
burnt alive sooner than disclose a single venial sin confessed 
by a penitent. The confessor can not speak of what he has 

3 



34 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

heard in confession, even to the penitent himself; that is, 
without the permission of the penitent." (St. Liguori on the 
Commandments and Sacraments, p. 225.) 

Again : 

"A penitent at confession should imagine himself to be a 
criminal condemned to death, bound by as many chains as he 
has sins to confess, and presenting himself before a confessor, 

who holds the place of God, and who alone can loose his bonds 
and deliver him from hell." (p. 227.) 

"By the law of God and his Church, whatever is declared 
in confession can never be discovered directly or indirectly to 
any one, upon any account whatsoever, but remains an eternal 
secret betwixt God and the penitent soul ; of which the confessor 
can not, even to save his own life, make any use at all, to the 
penitent's discredit, disadvantage, or any other grievance what- 
soever. Vide Decretum InnoceMii XI, die 18 JVovemb. Anno 1682." 
(Challoncr's Catholic Christian Instructed, p. 126.) 

" The priest, as the vicegerent of Jesus Christ, bound to 
eternal secrecy by every law, human and divine." (Catechism 
•of Trent, p. 190.) 

"Secrecy should be strictly observed, as well by penitent as 
priest; and hence, because in such circumstances secrecy must 
ibe insecure, no one can, on any account, confess by messenger 
or letter." (Catechism of Trent, p. 195.) 

Here let us pause and sum up these facts. 

Bishop David teaches that the priest is bound to 
secrecy^ under '^ imin of damnation^ St. Liguori says 
that the priest should be " burnt alive " sooner than re- 
veal. Dr. Challoner declares that the priest " should not 
reveal, to save his life!' The Catechism of Trent declares 
that the " 'priest is bound to secrecy by every laiv, human 
and divine^' and that the ''penitent is equally bound!' 
Both priest and penitent are therefore bound to observe 
•^'.eternal secrecy',' relative to transactions in the confes- 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 35 

sional, at the peril of life, and threatened with " eternal 
damnation " if they reveal. 

Nothing less than deeds of darkness most horrible 
could demand such a penalty for disclosing their secrets. 

This obligation of secrecy is not peculiar to the Roman 
Church in Italy and Spain, or in the dark ages of super- 
stition. It is now binding on Eomanists in America and 
throughout the world. 

These pledges of eternal secrecy are not sufficient to 
destroy the inherent modesty enstamped by the Creator 
on the female constitution. The Roman clergy therefore 
often experience much difficulty in degrading and subju-y 
gating the noble heart of woman to the corrupting and 
licentious influences of the confessional. They are com- 
pelled to denounce virtuous modesty as ''foolish hashful- 
ness " and "false delicacy ^^ and assault the citadel of the 
virtuous woman's heart by scoff and scorn, by threat ^nd 
promise, to consummate their fiendish purpose. 

In confirmation of these facts, we again refer to the 
Catechism of Trent, page 197: 

"But as all are anxious that their sins should be buried in 
eternal secrecy, the faithful are to be admonished that there is 
no reason whatever to apprehend that what is made known in 
confession will ever be revealed by any priest, or that by 
it the penitent can, at any time, be brought into danger or 
difficulty of any sort. All laws, human and divine, guard the 
inviolability of the seal of confession, and against its sacri- 
legious infraction the Church denounces her heaviest chastise- 
ments. Let the priests, saj^s the Great Council of Lateran, 
take especial care neither by word nor sign, nor by any other 
means w^hatever, to betray in the least degree the sacred trust 
confided to them by the sinner." 



36 AVBICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

Again, on page 198 : 

"Still more pernicious is the conduct of those who, yielding 
to a foolish bashfalness, can not induce themselves to confess 
their sins. Such persons are to be encouraged by exhortation, 
and to be reminded that there is no reason whatever why they 
should yield to such false delicacy; that to no one can it appear 
surprising if persons fall into sin, the common malady of the 
human race, and natural appendage of human infirmity." 

Again, on page 199 : 

"But as it sometimes happens that females, who may have 
forgotten some sin in a former confession, can not bring them- 
selves to return to the confessor, dreading to expose themselves 
to the suspicion of having been guilt}- of something grievous, 
or of looking for the praise of extraordinary piety, the pastor 
will frequently remind the faithful, both publicly and privately, 
that no one is gifted with so tenacious a memory as to be able 
to recollect all his thoughts, words, and actions; that the faith- 
ful, therefore, should they call to mind any thing grievous 
which they had previously forgotten, should not be deterred 
from returning to the priest. These and many other matters 
demand, and should receive, the particular attention of the 
confessor in the tribunal of penance." 

When we consider the nature of the questions pro- 
pounded by the priests to females — maids, matrons, and 
small girls — it should not be a matter of surprise that 
the priests are compelled to tax their ingenuity in devis- 
ing means by which to compel their attendance at con- 
fession'. It is rather a matter of surprise that insulted 
virtue has so long refrained from consigning them to 
merited infamy^ 

No other dass of men would be tolerated in decent 
society who would' propound to females such vile ques- 
tions as are asked by priests in the confessional. And 
yet Protestant parents, who profess to love their daugh- 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION, 37 

ters as they love their own lives, will place them in 
convents, where their morals are liable to be corrupted 
through the unhallowed influence of the confessional. 
Surely, they do not know the corrupting influence to 
which they are exposed. But it may be said that it is a 
matter of discretion whether Romanists do or do not at- 
tend confession — whether they do or do not answer the 
obscene questions propounded by the priests. 

Such declarations are evidence of the most profound 
ignorance of the rules of the Roman Church. It is not 
discretionary with any Romanist. All are required to 
make confession to the priests, and are excluded from 
the communion of the Church if ihej do not. All are 
required tp confess their sins of thought, of word, or 
action — not in general terms, but in detail — and answer 
an}'' questions, obscene or otherwise, which the priest 
may choose to ask. In attestation of these facts, we 
appeal to Roman books before us. 

But before we proceed with the horrible disclosures, 
let further evidence be exhibited relative to the obliga- 
tions of secrecy, by which this system of ecclesiastical 
seduction has been so long and so successfully secluded 
from inspection, and its projectors shielded from merited 
infamy. 

Let no one infer that our language is too strong, or 
that w^e are making assertions without clear documentary 
evidence at hand to sustain them. We have the most 
horrible and startling facts before us ; but their indeli- 
cacy precludes their insertion in this work. We can 



38 A URTCULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

only approximate the facts and permit the reader to 
infer the rest. 

The startling facts disclosed in these books and re- 
ferred to in the following pages, have excited profound 
interest in the minds of many intelligent Protestants, 
and the questions are frequently asked, '^ Is it possible 
that such books are now secretly circulated in our midst, 
as a guide of the Roman clergy in the confessional and 
other pretended devotions T — To which we reply. It is 
not only possible, but it is absolutely certain that they are 
now used on both continents with the approbation of 
Pope Gregory XYI., and Pope Pius IX. Peter Dens's 
" Theology " has been in use among the Roman clergy 
more than one hundred years. It has been twice unani- 
mously approved by the Roman Catholic prelates of 
Ireland, during the present century, as the most com- 
plete system of theology that could be published. It 
has been used as a text-book in the Royal College of 
Maynooth, Ireland. It is secretly sold by the pope's 
accredited publishers and booksellers in New York. The 
Mechlinise edition, from which the extracts are taken, 
bears date 1864, and is published by '' De Propaganda 
Fide' (Society for Propagation of the Faith). On the 
title-page it bears the following inscription : " Theologia 
ad usum Seminariorum, et Sacrce Theologice Alumnorum^' 
(Theology in use in the Theological Seminary, and Sacred 
Theology for Students.) Kenrick's "Theology" was 
first published in Philadelphia, in the years 1841, 1842, 
and 1843, and "Entered according to Act of Congress, 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 39 

by Francis Patrick Kenrick, in the Clerk's Office of the 
District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania." 
It was published in three volumes, and the extracts are 
from the first edition. A later edition from Mechliniae, 
published in two volumes, by the "Society for the 
Propagation of the Faith," bears date 1861, and to our 
personal knowledge it is catalogued in Latin, and is for 
sale in the large Catholic bookstores generally through- 
out the United States. 

These and other kindred corrupting Homan Theolo- 
gies, together with Auricular Confession, ought to be 
suppressed by legal enactments. They are the prolific 
source of gross licentiousness. These are but speci- 
mens of the entire system of theology, and the infernal 
questions which they suggest may be propounded by 
bachelor priests, at discretion, to females of all ages, 
from "seven years" upward; and the obligation of the 
confession binds them under penalty of "eternal damna- 
tion" to "eternal secrecy." The indelicacy of the sub- 
jects discussed precludes the possibility of disclosing the 
facts promiscuously through the press or to a mixed 
audience. And yet something must be done to arrest 
this flood-tide of licentiousness. 

For the benefit of those who may not have access 
to the original we furnish the Latin extracts on the 
secrecy of the confessional, accompanied with an English 
translation in parallel columns. 

In Bishop Kenrick's Theology, vol. 3, page 172, 
section 87, perjury is sanctioned to conceal the abom- 



40 



AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



inations of the confessional, as may be seen in the fol- 
lowing quotation : 

."DE SIGILLO CONFESSIONIS. "THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 

" Interrogatus confessarius ''When a confessor is asked 

utrum quis apud eum confes- whether any one has confessed 

sus fuerit, poterit plerumque to him, he may generally reply 

respondere, prout res se habet. as the case is. If he has come 



Quod si clam accesserit, ipsam 
confessionem celatam volens, 
putant plures, et quidem recte, 
judice S. Alphonso, frangi sig- 
illuni si accessus ejus a confes- 
sario declaretur, nam gravi- 



secretly, wishing the confes- 
sion itself to be concealed, 
many think, and rightly, in- 
deed, according to the opinion 
of S. Alphonsus (Ligiiori), that 
his seal is broken if his ai^pli- 



oris, peccati suspicionem fiicile cation to him be mentioned by 
injicit. (L. vi. n. 638.) De iis the confessor, for he may easily 
autem qua? confitendo declar- cause him to incur suspicion of 
antur, nihil prorsus dicendum a more than commonly griev- 
est; ca enim ignorare cause- ous sin. Of the things which 
tur; quum nonnisi Dei vices are declared in confession, 
gerenti innotescant. 'Homo nothing further ia to be said; 
non adducitur in testimonium, for he is supposed not to know 
nisi ut homo. Et ideo sine them when they arc known 
lajsione conscientise potest ju- only to the vicegerent of God. 
rare se nescire, quod scit tan- 'A man is brought as a wjt- 
tumutn^us.' (S. Thom. Suppl. ness only as a man. And, 
iii. p. qu. xi. art i. ad 3.) Igi- therefore, without injury to 
tur simpliciter denegare debet conscience, he can swear that 
se ea nosse ; quod si aliunde he docs not know those things, 
novcrit, cavendum ne quid cer- which he knows only as God.' 
tius ex confessione proferatur." Therefore, he ought simply to 

deny that he knows these 
things ; if he has learned them 
from another source, care must 
be taken lest any thing should 
be reported more accurately 
from the confession." 

Here let it be observed that the Roman priest in the 

confessional is God, and outside of the confessional, or 



TBE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 



41 



in the court-room as a witness, he is man. What he, 
as God, knows in the confessional, he as man does not 
know as a witness, ''and, ivithout injury to conscience, can 
swear that he does not Jcnow those things which he knows 
only as Godr 

Such is the moral theology of the most distinguished 
archbishop of America, whose works are indorsed by Pope 
Pius IX and Pope Gregory XVI, and are for the guide of 
the Roman clergy on both contitients. Here is unblushing 
jperjury sanctioned by the highest authority of the Church 
of Rome, and which all the clergy are required to teach. 

The same unmitigated perjury is taught more clearly 
in the Moral Theology of Peter Dens. Here again is 



PEEJUEY SANCTIONED. 



" DE SIGILLO CONFESSIONIS. 

" Quid est sigilluni confes- 
sionis sacramentalis? 

"jR. Est obligatio sen debit- 
um celandi ea, quae ex sacra- 
mentali confessione cognoscun- 
tur. (Dens. torn, vi, p. 227.) 

"An potest dari casus, in 
quo licet frangere sigillum sa- 
cramentale? 

"i2. Non potest dari; quara- 
vis ab eo penderet vita aut 
salus hominis, aut etiam inter- 
itus Eeipublicse; neque sum- 
mus Pontifex in eo dispensare 
potest; ut proinde hoc sigilli 
arcanum magis liget, quam ob- 
ligatio juramenti, voti, secreti 



"ON THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 

"What is the seal of sacra- 
mental confession? 

"J.. It is the obligation or 
duty of concealing tlipse things 
which are learned from sacra- 
mental confession. (Dens, vol. 
6, p. 227.) 

" Can a case be given in 
which it is lawful to break the 
sacramental seal? 

"A. It can not ; although the 
life or safety of a man depended 
thereon, or even the destruc- 
tion of the commonwealth ; 
nor can the Supreme Pontiff 
give dispensation in this ; so 
that on that account this secret 
of the seal is more binding 



42 



AURICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



naturalis, fctc, idque ex volun- 
tate Dei positiva. 



" Quid igitur respondere de- 
bet eonfessarius interrogatus 
super veritate, quam per solam 
confessionem sacramentalem 
novit? 

" B. Debet respondere se nes- 
cire earn, et si opus est, idem 
juramento confirmare. 

"0Z>/. IS^ullo casu licet men- 
tiri ; atqui eonfessarius ille 
mentirctur quia scit veritatem, 
ergo, etc. 

"i?. Neg. min., quia talis 
eonfessarius interrogatur ut 
homo, et respondet ut homo; 
jam autem iion scit ut homo 
ill am veritatem, quam vis sciat 
ut Deus, ait S. Th. q. II, art. 1 
ad 3, et iste sensus sponte in 
est responsioni ; nam quando 
extra confessionem interroga- 
tur, vel respondet, consideratur 
ut homo.r 

"Quid si directe a confessa- 
rio qusftratur, utrum illud sciat 
per confessionem 'sacramenta- 
lem ? 

"^. Hoc casu nihil oportet 
respondere ; ita Steyasrt cum 
Sj^lvio; sed interrogatio reji- 
cienda est tanquam impia vel 
etiam posset absolute, non re- 
lative ad petitionem dicere ; 



than the obligation of an oath, 
a vow, a natural secret, etc., 
and that by the positive will 
of God. 

"What answer, then, ought 
a confessor give when ques- 
tioned cencerning the truth 
which he knows from sacra- 
mental confession only? 

"JL. He ought to answer that 
he does not know it, and, if it 
be necessary, to confirm the same 
with an oath. 

^^Ohj. It is in no case lawful 
to tell a lie; but tnat confessor 
would be guiltj'' of a lie, be- 
cause he knows the truth, 
therefore, etc. 

"J.. I deny the minor; be- 
cause such a confessor is ques- 
tioned as a man, and answers 
as a man; but now he does not 
know that truth as a man, 
though' he knows it as God, 
sa3'8 St. Thomas (q. II., art. 1, 
3), and that is the free and 
natural meaning of the answer ; 
for when he is asked, or when 
he answers outside confession, 
he is considered as a man. 

" What if a confessor were di- 
rectly asked whether he knows 
it through sacramental confes- 
sion? 

"A. In this case he ought to 
give no answer (so Ste3^art and 
Sylvius), but reject the ques- 
tion as impious : or he could 
even say absolutely, not rela- 
tively to the question, I know 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSIOK 43 

ego nihil scio; quia vox ego nothing, because the word I 
restringit ad scientiam huma- restricts to his human knowl- 
nam." (Dens, torn, vi, p. 228.) edge." (Dens, v. 6, p. 228.) 

Thus, in their highest theology, "perjury" is taught 
in the plainest possible terms. The obligation of secrecy 
is ''more binding than an oath, a vow, a natural secret, 
etc., and that hy the positive will of God!' So binding 
is this obligation of secrecy in the confessional that 
" a case can not he given in which it is lawful to break the 
seal (that is, reveal the secrets), although the life or safety 
of a man depended thereon, or even the destruction of the 
Commonwealth^ What horrible corruption must there be 
practiced in confession to require such fearful obligations 
of secrecy. 

Reader, examine well this fiendish obligation, and 
understand if a Roman priest should learn in the con- 
fessional that you were to be assassinated in one hour, 
he dare not disclose the fact under less penalty than 
''endless damnationP He may be your nearest neighbor; 
he may profess to be your personal friend ; and you may 
have saved his life, or done him a thousand favors, but 
all are naught when contrasted with the more binding 
obligation of secrecy in the confessional. If a Roman 
priest should, through the confessional, learn that the 
Congress Hall was to be bloAvn to atoms by gunpowder, 
and that the President of the United States (including 
the Cabinet, Congress, and visitors), were to be dashed to 
atoms in a moment, he dare not reveal the fact. His 
obligation of " eternal secrecy " binds him to silence. 



44 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

if "the destruction of the Commonwealth depended 
thereon." This fact, so emphatically set forth in moral 
theology, is confirmed in Roman ecclesiastical histoiy. 
Priest Garnet was the confessor of the conspirators 
engaged in the gunpowder plot to blow up the British 
Parliament, with intention to destroy the royal family, 
that Romanists might grasp the regal power and sub- 
jugate England to Rome. He knew all the fficts ; he 
was in the confidence of the treasonable conspirators, 
aiding and abetting, until their fiendish plot was de- 
tected, and he lost his life for his perfidy. When ar- 
rested and convicted by a jury of his countrymen, and 
sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered, accord- 
ing to British law for treason, he still retained the 
secrets of the confessional to the last hour of life. 
When all hope had fled, and a certain and terrible death 
awaited him in a few moments, he, on the scaffold, ex- 
claimed : " As I hope for salvation, I never was ac- 
quainted with this treasonable conspiracy except through 
the confessional, which I was obliged not to reveal." 

This fact is found on page 580 of the " History of 
the Christian Church," by Rev. Joseph Reeve, with the 
approbation of the Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick, and 
for sale in the large Roman bookstores generally. 

St. Liguori also, and other saints of Rome, sanc- 
tioned peijur}^ to conceal the corrupt communications of 
the confessional. 

In the Roman Calendar for 1845, page 167, we learn 
that, preparatory to his canonization, the Moral Theology 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 45 

of St. Liguori had been more than tAventy times rigorously 
discussed by the Sacred Congregation of Rights, which 
decreed that, in all Ms worJcs, whether printed or in- 
edited, not one word had leen found worthy of censure ; 
which decree was afterward confirmed by Pope Pius 
YII. This Liguori Avas Cardinal Wiseman's favorite 
saint, and the following are specimens of his doctrines 
on the seal of confession, Avhen the priest or peni- 
tent is interrogated relative to the secrets of the con- 
fessional : 

^'EespondI. Sigillum hoc est "Answer 1. That this seal 
obligatio juris divini strictis- is an obligation of divine rght, 
sima in omni causa, etiam quo most strict in eveiy case, even 
integri regni salus periclita- Avhere the safety of a whole 
retur ad tacendum etiam post nation would be at stake, to 
mortem poenitentis dicta in observe silence even after the 
confessione (id est in ordinead death of the penitent as to all 
absolutionem sacramentalem), things spoken in confession 
omnia, quorum revelatio sacra- (that is, in order to obtain sacra- 
mentum rederit onerosum vel mental absolution), the revela- 
odiosum." (Liguori, torn 6, p. tion of which would render 
276, n. 634.) the sacrament itself grievous 

or odious." (Liguori, vol. 6, p. 

276,^0.634.) 
"Quseritur an confessarius "It is asked Avhether the 
interrogatus de peccato poeni- confessor, interrogated con- 
ten tis possit dicere se illud cerning the sin of his peni- 
nescire, etiam cum juramento. tent, can sa^^ that he does not 
AflSrmandum cum communi, know it, even with an oath, 
quam tenent D. Thomas." It is answered in the affirma- 
(Suppl., q. 11., art. 1., ad 3.) tive, in accordance with the 

common opinion which St. 

Thomas and others hold." 

(Su]3l., q. 11. art. 1 and 3.) 



46 



AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



The reason assigned by St. Thomas is in strict con- 
formity to the Jesuit casuistry of Roman theologians gen- 
erally, and is as follows : 



"Homo non adducitur in 
testimonium, nisi lit homo, 
ideo. . . . potest JQrare se nes- 
cire quod scit tantum iit Deus, 
(et hoc, etiamsi confessarius ro- 
gatus fuerit ad respondendum 
non ut homo, sed praecipne ut 
minister Dei, prout recte siunt 
Saurez et praefati auctores 
loc. cit.); quia confessarius 
nuUo modo scit 2)eccatum 
scicntia qua possit uti ad re- 
spondendum, unde juste as- 
serit se nescire id quod sine 
injustitia nequit manifestare. 
Vide dicta 1. 3. n. 125, v. 
Ilinc. Quid, si insuper rogetur 
ad respondendum sine sequivo- 
catione? Adhuc juramento cum 
potest respondere, se nescire, 
ut probabilus dicunt Lugo, n. 
79, Croix, 1, c. cum Stoz. et 
Holzm. num. 722, cum Michel, 
contra alios. Ratio, quia tunc 
confessarius revera respondet 
secundum juramentum factum 
quod semper factum intelligi- 
tur modo quo fieri poterat, 
nempe manifestandi veritatem 
sine asquivocatione, sed sine 
sequivocatione ilia, qusd licite 



"A man is not adduced in 
testimony unless as a man; 
therefore, he can swear that he 
does not know what he knows 
only as God (and this holds 
good, although a confessor may 
have been asked to give his 
answer, not as man, but es- 
pecially as minister of God, as 
Suarez and the before quoted 
authors rightly say) ; because 
a confessor, in no manner, 
knows a sin with a knowledge 
which he can use for the pur- 
pose of answering; wherefore 
he justly asserts that he does 
not know that, which, without 
injustice, he can not manifest. 
Hence, what if he should be 
asked to answer without equivo- 
cation ? Even in that case he can 
answer with an oath, that he does 
not know it; as, most probably, 
Lugo, Croix, Stoz. et Holzm, 
with Michel, teach against 
others. The reason is, because 
then the confessor verily an- 
swers according to the oath 
made, which is always under- 
stood to be made in the man- 
ner in which it was possible to 
be made, to-wit, of manifesting 
the truth without equivoca- 
tion ; that is, without that 
equivocation which lawfully 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 



47 



omitti poterat: quoad sequivo- 
cationein vero necessariiim, quae 
non poterat omitti absque pec- 
cato, nee alter habet jus ut 
sine sequivoeatione ei respon- 
deatur, uec ideo confessariiis 
tenetur sine sequivocatione re- 
spondere." (Liguori, torn. 6, 
n. 646.) 



can be omitted. But as to the 
necessary equivocation, which 
could not be omitted without 
sin, the other has not a right 
that an answer should be given 
to him without equivocation ; 
neither, moreover, is the con- 
fessor bound to answer with- 
out equivocation." (Liguori, 
vol. 6, n. 646.) 



We have before us ten volumes (the fall set) of St. 
Liguori's Moral Theology, from which the Roman clergy 
are instructed as to vile and indelicate questions in the 
confessional, and the manner of concealing the facts by 
equivocation, falsehood, and perjury ; but, for the present, 
the above may suffice. 

Again, perjury is sanctioned by De la Hogue, whose 
works are much esteemed, and have been in use in the 
Royal College of Maynooth, where Irish priests are 
drilled in the ritual of Auricular Confession in its filthiest 
details. He says: 

"Si sacerdos a magistrata "If a priest is questioned 

interrogetur de iis quorum by a magistrate as to matters 

notitiam ex sola confessione which ho has learned from 

habuit, respondere debet se confession alone, he ought to 

nescire, immo hoc ipsum jurare reply that he is ignorant of 

absque uilo mendacii periculo. them; na}", he ought to swear 

Ratio est juxta Estium, quia to it, which he may do without 

nee mentitur, nee in equivoco any danger of falsehood. It is 

ludit, qui ad raentem, interro- added, on the authority of Es- 

gantis respondet, at nihil nisi tins, that in doing so he neither 

verum profert; atqui ita se lies nor equivocates, since he 

habet Sacerdos in prefato casu, frames a true reply to the in- 

namque ab illo non quaerit tention. of the person interro- 



48 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Judex quid scit via confession is gating him; because the mag- 
quafenus Dei vices agit, sed q\\\d istrate does not ask him what 
noverit, quatenus homo, proin- he knows from confession 'm 
deque extra confessionem." (De his character as God,' but what 
la Hogue, tom. 1, p. 292.) he knows 'in his character as 

man,' without confession." (De 
la Hogue, vol. 1, p. 292.) 

Adopting such theology as this, what confidence can 
be placed in the word or oath of a Roman priest or 
bishop? Under such teaching, whose character, prop- 
erty, or life may not be sworn away from him if the in- 
terests of papacy demand it. 

The following incident may illustrate the estimate in 

which the laity hold the obligation of secrecy in the 

confessional, as reported in the Northivestern Christian 

Advocate, of 1855: 

"A Eoman Catholic priest was recently before a magistrate 
in Chicago, charged with beating and otherwise abusing a 
a woman, a member of his Church, for refusing to take her 
children from the free-school at his bidding. The defense set 
up was, that the transactions of the confessional were to be 
kept secret; that the woman knew this, and if she should vi- 
olate this solemn obligation she was unworthy of belief. Wit- 
nesses, members of the Catholic Church, were examined, who 
testified that, according to the canons of the Church, whatever 
insult a priest* might offer a woman at the confessional, she 
was bound to keep it secret from her husband." 

After a thorough exammation of Roman theology^ 
we are persuaded that the Roman clergy should not be 
trusted under oath in any matter involving the real or 
imaginary interests of the Church of Rome. They 
claim power to absolve each other from the obligations 
of an oath. 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 49 

This doctrine is also imparted to the laity, as may be 
seen by reference to St. Liguori on the Commandments 
and Sacraments, pages 83 and 85 : 

"But if, in a matter of small moment, a person swore witli 
the intention of performing bis promise, but afterward did not 
adhere to it, it is probable, as several theologians s&y, that he 
would not be guilty of a mortal sin ; because God is called on 
to attest tbe present intention, and not tbe future execution of 
the promise." 

"How is tbe obligation of an oath taken away? It may be 
taken away by annulment, by dispensation, commutation, and 
relaxation. First, it may be annulled b}^ any one who has 
dominative power, sucb as a fatber, a husband, a guardian, 
prelate, or abbess ; and, to annul an oath, a just cause is not 
necessary. Secondly, by dispensation or commutation; and 
such dispensation or commutation may be given by the j^ope 
or bishop, but, to grant a dispensation or commutation, a just 
cause is required. Tbirdlj^ by relaxation. This may be given 
by the bisbop, and by all who have episcopal functions." 

These extracts are from a common manual in the 
hands of the laity. It is printed in plain English, to be 
read by all at discretion. The influence of such teach- 
ing, by a professedly infallible Church, on the minds of 
its subjects, may be easily inferred. 

The most binding oaths may be violated Avith impu- 
nity, and with the approbation of ecclesiastical superiors. 

Under the influence of these principles, it is not 
strange that Protestants have no rights which a Roman- 
ist is under obligation to respect, except in Protestant 
countries, or where papists are in the minority. 

Oaths are but toys in the hand of the Roman clergy. 
The preceding binding obligations of secrecy are not 

4^ 



50 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

sufficient to restrain them except at pleasure, and their 
theology provides for disclosures Avhere '^ a just cause ex- 
istsT The evidence is before us, but space will not 
permit its insertion. The solemn and repeated declara- 
tion of secrecy on the part of the clergy accomplishes, 
at least, three things : 1. It tends to diminish the re- 
straints of modesty ; 2. It lessens the probabilities that 
criminal intercourse ^Yill be exposed ; 3. It furnishes in- 
centives to yield to the seductive influences of the con- 
fessional, Ayith the assurance that the facts will not come 
to light, they being known only to the guilty parties, 
who ;ire supposed to be mutually interested to conceal 
their shame. The confiding penitent finds it difficult to 
believe that one so holy as the father confessor, and act- 
ing as God in the confessional, could so far forget his 
obligation of secrecy as to betray confidence, or be guilty 
of such perfidy, as to incur the penalty of mortal sin. 
And such would seem to be the fair and logical inference 
if things were as they seem to be, and if there were not 
facts, history, and theology, to the contrarj^ Little do 
the confiding common people know of the secret theology 
and Jesuit casuistry of the Roman clergy ; little do they 
suspect that their humble and sincere confessions often 
furnish themes of ribaldry and jest in the carnivals and 
bacchanalian orgies of at least some of their lordly con- 
fessors. Dens, Liguori, and St. Thomas, each provide 
that, under certain contingencies, the obligation of secrecy 
does not bind the clergy except at discretion, and the 
interest of the Church must determine the matter. 



THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. 51 

The mysieiy of iniquity does not end here. These 
men-Gods, who, in the court-room are men, and in the 
confessional, Gods, may, according to their own approved 
theology, not only keep concubines, but, under other cir- 
cumstances, flagrantly violate the law of chastity, and, 
at the same time, absolve their licentious accomplices. 

This fact will receive attention in a subsequent 
chapter. 



52 AXmiCULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER Y. 
THE CONFESSIONAL. 

Ti^ACH church or chapel is usually provided with a 
-*-^ confessional, or place for hearing confessions, which 
is frequently called a confession-box. The plainest form 
is a chair or seat, in a retired place, where the penitent 
may kneel beside the priest and whisper in his ear 
through a temporary screen. This style is not in gen- 
eral use in this country. With slight variations of 
form and structure, they are frequently about seven feet 
high, four feet wide, and eight feet long, divided into 
two equal apartments by a thin plank partition, extend- 
ing across the inclosure. In this partition is usually an 
aperture with lattice-work, or wicket-gate, and sometimes 
both, about four feet from the floor, through which to 
whisper the most obscene communications that ever pol- 
luted the lips of mortals. Each apartment is provided 
with a small door, which is usually closed with shutter 
or curtain. This is a description of the plain chapel 
style of a confession-box, and intended to furnish a gen- 
eral idea of the leadinsr features of all. A more aristo- 
cratic style of confession-box may be found in many of 
the larger churches, the exterior of which is about as 
large as the above described box, with the addition of 



THE CONFESSIONAL. 53 

another partition, forming three small boxes. The cen- 
ter box is for the priest, and the boxes at the right and 
the left for the penitents; but only one penitent should 
enter at a time. And to prevent the possibility of one 
penitent hearing the confession of another, there is a 
shutter or sliding board in each partition, in addition to 
the lattice-work or wicket, so that when a penitent en- 
ters the box on the right, the wicket on the left is closed, 
and the reverse, as the case may require. The middle 
box for the priest is so small that he, by reclining to the 
right or to the left, can hear the confession of a penitent 
in either apartment of the box. The penitent is required 
to kneel, with the face as near to the priest's ear at the 
wdcket as possible, and communicate to the priest in a 
whisper. The necessity for putting the ''mmdh" as near 
the priest's ear as possible is urged from the considera- 
tion that "some penitents commit a fault by holding 
themselves far away from the priest, or too far to the 
part of the grate nearest the door of the confessional. 
This obliges the priest to hurt his back by stooping 
forward. This should not be." (Star of Bethlehem, 
p. 202.) 

It is said to be a mortal sin for a third person to at- 
tempt to hear the secret communications of the confes- 
sional. 

Another style of confession-box is, when it is built 
solid in the brick wall of the building, and not a ray of 
light can enter it except through the shutters or curtains 
of the doors. Confession may be made at any time or 



54 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

place where priest and penitent can communicate pri- 
vately under the obligation of eternal secrecy. Under 
these circumstances, when the subjects discussed and the 
nature of the communications there made are understood, 
it will not be difficult to infer the rest. Let it suffice for 
the present to say, that if such communications were 
made by females to unmarried men under any other cir- 
cumstances, they would be excluded from decent society. 
The evidence of this will appear in the next chapter. 

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. 

The manuals of the Roman Church, for the 2:uide of 
the laity in confession, contain suggestive catechetical 
instructions, by which they are required to refresh their 
memory on old subjects which may be subsequently dis- 
cussed in the confessional, and upon which they may be 
cross-examined by the priest in the confessional, as a 
lawyer would exa,mine a w^itness in court. And the 
validity of the confession is made to depend upon the 
fidelity in examining conscience, and the unreserved dis- 
closures subsequently made to a bachelor priest in the 
dark, secluded sentry-box, commonly known as the confes- 
sional. As a specimen we select a few questions for the 
examination of conscience on the Stzth Commandment in 
the Douay Bible, which is properly the Seventh Com- 
mandment, " Thou shalt not commit adultery." (It is 
called the Sixth Commandment in the '^Garden of the 
Soul," and in other poj)ish books, on account oT their 
omission of the second, which forbids the worship of 



THE CONFESSIONAL. 55 

images or idols. They make up the number — ten — by 
dividing the tenth into two.) These questions are trans- 
scribed verhatim et literatim, with the omission of portions 
of two, which are calcuhated to suggest modes of pollu- 
tion and crime that otherwise a pure-minded person 
would never think of. The questions are printed in 
plain English, in a popular book of devotion, issued under 
the direct approbation of the most celebrated Romish 
archbishop of America, and to be found in the hands of 
intelligent Romanists generally; and it is but right that 
Protestants, and especially those who send their daughters 
to Roman seminaries or convents, should know the kind 
of questions that will be proposed by the priests, in the 
secret confessional, to their wives and daughters, in case 
they should be induced to embrace the religion of Rome. 
. I must be excused for omitting the most indecent 
portions of the two vilest questions of the filthy list. 
No decent man dare pollute with them pages to be read 
by the people generally. The work in which they are 
found is but one of a class of books which may be pro- 
cured at the Roman book-stores generally. The Avork is 
stereotyped, catalogued, and sold throughout the United 
States. The copy before us bears date 1871, and is pub- 
lished in " New York by D. & J. Sadlier & Co., 31 Bar- 
clay street." It is the " enlarged " American edition, with 
the approbation of Dr. Hughes, in the words following : 

" ' The Garden of the Soul' having been dult examined, 
we hereby approve op its publication. 

" f JOHN, Archbishop op New York," 



56 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

which is the usual official signature of that distin- 
guished prelate. 

The following are the questions, as found on pages 
213 and 214 : 

"YI. Have you been guilty of fornication, or adultery, or 
incest, or any sin against nature, either with a person of the 
same sex, or with any other creature? How often ? Or have 
you designed, or attempted any such sin, or sought to induce 
others to it? How often ? 

"Have you been guilty of self pollution? or of immodest 
touches of yourself? How often? 

"Have you touched others, or permitted yourself to be 
touched by others, immodestly? or given or taken wanton 
kisses or embraces, or any such liberties? How often? 

"Have you looked at immodest objects with pleasure or 
danger? read immodest books or songs to yourselves or others? 
kept indecent pictures? willingly given ear to, and taken plea- 
sure in hearing, loose discourse, etc.? or sought to see or hear 
any thing that was immodest? How often? 

"Have you exposed j^ourself to wanton company? or played 
at any indecent play? or frequented masquerades, balls, come 
dies, etc.? with danger to your chastity? How often? 

"Have you been guilty of immodest discourses, wanton 
stories, jests, or songs, or words of double meaning? How 
often? and before how many? and were the persons to whom 
you spoke or sung married or single? For all this you are 
obliged to confess, by reason of the evil thoughts these things 
are apt to create in the hearers. 

Have you abused the marriage bed by or 

by any pollutions? or been guilty of any irregularity in 
order? How often ? 

"Have you, Avithout a just cause, refused the marriage debt? 
and what sin followed from it? How often? 

"Have you debauched any person that was innocent before? 
Have you forced any person, or deluded any one by deceitful 
promises? etc.^ or designed or desired to do so? How often? 
You are obliged to make satisfaction for the injury you have 
done. 



THE CONFESSIONAL. 57 

"Have you taught any one evil that he knew not of before? 
or carried any one to lewd houses? etc. How often?'' 

On page 216 : 

" IX. Have you willingly taken pleasure in unchaste thoughts 
or imaginations? or entertained unchaste desires? Were the 
objects of your desires maids or married persons, or kinsfolks, 
or persons consecrated to God? Etow often? 

"Have you taken pleasure in the irregular motions of the 
flesh? or not endeavored to resist them? How often? 

"Have you entertained, with pleasure, the thoughts of say- 
ing or doing anything which it would be a sin to say or do? 
How often ? - 

"Have you had the desire or design of committing any sin? 
of what sin? How often?" 

Vile as these questions are, they are but as the 
shadow to the substance, compared with the questions 
in the confessional, and to the instructions in the secret 
Latin theology of the Roman clergy, now before us. 
These questions, when contrasted with the original, are 
white as the paper on which we write in contrast with 
the ink. We dare not specify the facts ; and the most 
vivid imagination can not do justice to the subject. Let 
any linguist take the Moral Theology of Dens, Kenrick, 
Liguori, St. Thomas, and other approved theological 
works, which are before us, and which are now the guide 
of the clergy in the confessional and in other duties, and 
they Avill exclaim : " The half has never been told ;" nor 
can it be, without violating every principle of decency 
and instinct of virtue. It is doubtless true that the 
promiscuous circulation of these vile theological books 
would corrupt any brothel on the continent. If any man 
of mature years doubts these facts, let him examine the 



58 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

original, under the general captions : " De usu Conjugii/* 
"De Luxuria," ^^De Peccatis Carnalibus Conjngum inter 
se/' " De Absolutione Complicis," "De justis causis per- 
mittendi Motus Sensualitatis," and kindred subjects 
which are discussed in the most minute and disgusting 
details, and his doubts will vanish. We have repeatedly 
compelled priests, in presence of large congregations of 
7nen alone, to admit the books and Aicts, and the justness 
of our published extracts and translations. Some of the 
best linguists on this continent have heard our secret 
lecture to men, and have compared the " extracts " with 
the original; they have declared the original books 
genuine, the extracts fair, the translations literal, and 
our strictures just. 

The communications with females in the confessional 
are not in a dead language, nor in doubtful and obscure 
sui2:2:estions ; but often in the most obscene vernacular 
tongue. Modesty is no protection. All sins must he 
confessed, and all questions propounded by the confessor 
must be promptly answered, otherwise the confession is 
a nullity, and absolution refused ; thus leaving the pen- 
itent in mortal sin, and every moment exposed to die and 
be damned forever. 

The confiding penitent is a helpless victim in the 
hands of an artful seducer, whose will is law, whose ab- 
solution is pardon, and whose displeasure may incur 
eternal perdition. No mother's eye can guard the timid, 
confiding daughter in the confessional. Her innocent, 
inexperienced, and confiding soul trembling before the 



THE CONFESSIONAL, 59 

august presence of one Avliom she is taught to believe is 
God in the confessional, and infallible in his instruction, 
how dare she resent an insult, or spurn his lecherous en- 
croachments? 0, that mothers could comprehend the 
danger of thus exposing the virture of their innocent 
daughters ! 

Then, the virtuous wife, in the absence of her hus- 
band, father, or brother, cloistered in a dark corner, 
under obligations of ''eternal secrecy '^^ and exposed to 
''endless damnation^ if she reveals, is compelled to an- 
swer questions which would seem sufficient to crimson 
the face of a devil, and "turn the cheek of darkness 
pale." insulted virtue, hast thou no protector! 

These disclosures challenge investigation^ and if not 
true they are grossly slanderous, and we ought to be 
indicted for publishing them. Let the Uoman clergy 
accept the issue if they dare, and we will compel them, 
on the witness-stand, to translate worse things from their 
own theology, under oath. 

If priests are not corrupters of society and the de- 
spoilers of virtue, it is because they are better than their 
system of theology requires them to be. 

To Protestant minds these startling facts may cause 
surprise, and some one may exclaim. Can it be possible 
that such things noio exist? We emphatically answer. 
Yes; it is not only possible, but is absolutely certain^ 
that this corrupt system exists in our midst, with the 
knowledge and approbation of the Pope and his clergy; 
and that papal laws and edicts stand unrepealed for the 



60 AUEICULAE CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

extermination of heretics who deny that the confessional 
is by divine appointment; and the Council of Trent 
plainly says, Let them be " accursed." 

To become a consistent Homanist, the first step is to 
surrender unconditionally the right of forming or ex- 
pressing an opinion relative to faith and doctrine, and 
blindly submit to the dictation and domination of eccle- 
siastical superiors. Reason and common-sense must be 
stultified, facts and evidence ignored, before judgment 
and conscience will ever become the passive dupes of 
authority. This accounts in part for the acceptance of 
many absurdities taught by the Eoman Church, and 
practiced by people who are otherwise intelligent. The 
fear of heresy, and its penalties, puts a quietus on many 
otherwise troubled minds and consciences. 

Heresy is thus defined : 

" Q. Wliat vice is opposite to faith? 

" A. Heresy. 

" Q. What is heresy? 

"^. It is an obstinate error in matters of faith. 

" Instruc. — He is a heretic who obstinately maintains any 
thing contrar}^ to the known faith and doctrine of the holy 
Catholic Church." (Poor Man's Catechism, p. 10.) 

"A heretic is one who has an opinion; for such is tho 
etymology of the word. What is understood by having an 
opinion is, following one's fancy and particular sentiment. A 
Catholic, without maintaining any particular sentiment, fol- 
lows unhesitatingly the doctrine of the Church." (Garden of 
the Soul, p. 392.) 

Also, " XJrsuline Manual," page 504. 

This blind submission is not discretionary on the part 



THE CONFESSIONAL. 61 

of the victim. It is, in Roman countries, imperious and 
unconditional. Property, character, and life often depend 
upon it; and, above all, the salvation of the soul, or its 
utter ruin. Under these circumstances, faith is the crea- 
ture of aidhoriiy^ and implicit ohedience the perfection 
of piety. 

In this country, the charge of heresy, or insubordi- 
nation to the Homan clerg}^, subjects the person to ex- 
communication from the Church, proscription, and perse- 
cution by the priest and his congregation. And this 
cruel persecution is enforced through the confessional, 
often to the great injury of business, person, and property. 

Connected with this, the influence of education, often 
from infancy, and association, must be taken into the 
account. Thus hedged in by canon laws, decrees of 
councils, education, and association under the vif^ilant 

7 7 O 

eye of an ecclesiastical dictator Avho is authorized to 
search out all secrets in the confessional, how abject the 
servitude, how helpless the victim ! 

Doubtless, many of the laity are to be pitied more 
than blamed; but who can sufficiently execrate their 
destroyers, who are presumed to be men of too much 
intelligence to be duped by their own devices? In the 
darker ages, they might have claimed some apology, but 
not now; and, especially in this Protestant country, they 
are inexcusable. 

If any other class of men or ministers were known 
to have such communications with females as that prac- 
ticed by the Roman clergy, they would be spurned as 



62 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

corrupters of society, and shunned as debauchers of the 
virtuous and innocent. Hoav is it, and why is it, that 
such unblushing abominations have so long escaped mer- 
ited rebuke ? It must be from a want of information on 
this subject. 

The facts are so astounding that men of intelligence, 
and often ministers of the Gospel, with the secret theol- 
ogy of the Roman clergy in their hands, authenticated 
by the most positive evidence, have exclaimed : " Is it 
possible! I never had the most remote conception that 
such things are now practiced in our midst." And the 
facts can not be successfully denied. 



SINS, MORTAL AND VENIAL. 63 



CHAPTER YI. 

SINS, MORTAL AND VENIAL. 

T)OMAN theologians classify sins under two general 
-*- divisions, usually denominated mortal and venial, by 
which they mean Im^ge and small sins. 

Mortal (large) sins must be confessed; venial (small) 
sins may or may not be confessed. The former can only 
be forgiven by the clergy; the latter may be forgiven by 
holy water, the eucharist, penance, and various other 
appliances, not excepting purgatorial fire. 

Original sin, which precedes both, is washed away by 
baptism from both infants and adults; consequently, does 
not legitimately come within the sphere of Auricular 
Confession. 

In approved moral theology and catechisms, sins are 
defined as follows: 

"What is mortal sin? 

" It is that which of itself entails spiritual death upon the 
soul. 

"What is venial sin? 

" That which does not entail spiritual death upon the soul." 
(Dens, vol. 1, E'o. 153.) 

This distinguished theologian devotes not less than 
twenty-one chapters to this important definition, marking 
the nice distinctions and intricacies between mortal and 



64 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

venial sins, and leaves the subject about as clear as 
when he found it. 

The 156 Ih number commences with the following 
words : 

"Although mortal sin is far removed from venial sin, it is 
extremely difficult to discover, and very dangerous to define 
which is mortal and which venial; so that these are matters 
which ought to be considered, not by a human, but a divine, 
mind." 

This divine mind, in his conception, evidently belongs 
to Roman theologians, which is shown by the fact that, 
immediately after this avowal of the difficulty and dan- 
ger of the enterprise, he wrote twenty chapters relative 
to a definition of the difference. If it be thus difficult 
for a learned Doctor^of Divinity to distinguish between 
mortal and venial sins, what must be the condition of the 
common people, who have not access to these profound 
theological dissertations? How shall they know what 
sins are mortal and what sins are not, Avhat sins to con- 
fess and what not confess? This distinction without a 
difference has been a source of much perplexity to hair- 
splitting Roman theologians, and has caused them to 
darken counsel by a multitude of words. 

" Q. What is mortal sin? 

"^. Mortal sin is that which kills the soul, and deserves hell, 

" Q. HoW does mortal sin kill the soul? 

"A. Mortal sin kills the soul by destroying the life of the 
soul, which is the grace of God. 

" Q' What is venial sin? 

"^. Yenial sin is that which does not kill the soul, yet dis- 
pleases God." (General Catechism, p. 18.) 



SllfS, MORIAL AND VENIAL. 65 

" Q' What if one willfully conceal a mortal sin in confession? 

"j1. He who conceals a mortal sin in confession commits a 
great sin b}^ telling a lie to the Holy Ghost, and makes his 
confession worthless. 

" Q. What must w^e do that we may not be guilty of leaving 
out sins in confession ? 

"J.. That we may not be guilty of leaving out sins in con- 
fession, we must carefully examine our consciences upon the 
Ten Commandments, the seven deadly sins, etc." (p. 41.) 

•' Q. How many are the chief mortal sins, commonly called 
caj)ital and deadly sins? 

" A. Seven : Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, 
Envy, Sloth. 

" Q. Where shall they go who die in mortal sin? 

"j4. To hell, for all eternity. 

" Q. Where do thej^ go who die in venial sin? 

"^. To purgatory." (Butler's Catechism, p. 27.) 

These are specimens of mortal sins which may be 
enlarged indefinitely. It is a mortal sin to read the 
Bible, to attend a Protestant Church, or to read books 
published by Protestants, or to form opinions contrary 
to the known faith and doctrine of the Roman Church. 
It is a mortal sin to join the Odd Fellows or Masons, or 
any forbidden society. It is a mortal sin not to con/ess 
Sindpa?/ the priest. 

Falsehood, perjury, theft, arson, and murder, mat/ or 
mat/ not be charged as mortal sins. Circumstances must 
determine these matters. It is as true now in that sys- 
tem as it was in the days of the Inquisition, that the end 
sanctifies the means. The greater good to the Church of 
Rome must decide these vexed questions. 

This distinction between mortal and venial sins fur- 
nishes a Avide field for Romanist casuistry, and leaves- 

5 



66 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

the confiding penitent in doubt as to his present condi- 
tion and his final destiny. Mortal sins only must be 
confessed. The Council of Trent says, Chapter V, 16 : 

"For venial offenses, by wliicli we are not excluded from 
the grace of God, and into whicli we so frequently full, may 
be concealed without fault, and expiated in many other ways." 

Mortal sins, even of thought, make men children of 
wrath, and enemies of God, and must be exposed in 
minute detail, Avith all the attendant circumstances which 
may aggravate or palliate the offense. And for this the 
Council of Trent assigns the following reason : 

"It is plain that the priests can not sustain the office of 
judge, if the cause be unknown to them; or inflict equitable 
punishments, if sins are only confessed in general, and not 
minutel}' and individually described. For this reason it fol- 
lows that penitents are bound to rehearse in confession all 
mortal sins, of which, after diligent examination of themselves, 
the}' are conscious, even though they be of the most secret kind, 
and only committed against the two last precepts of the Deca- 
logue, etc. . . . Moreover, it follows, that even those 
circumstances which alter the species of sin are to be explained 
in confession, since otherwise the penitents can not fully con- 
fess tlieir sins, nor the judge know them." (Ch. v.) 

"Though the priest's absolution is the dispensation of a 
benefit which belongs to another, yet it is not to be considered 
as merely a ministrj-, whether to publish the Gospel or to de- 
clare the remission of sins, but as of the nature of a judicial act^ 
in which sentence is pronounced by him as a judge." (Ch. 6, of 
the Minister.) 

The priest who hears confession is represented as sit- 
ting in the tribunal of penance as Christ himself, as a 
judge forgiving sins and^ inflicting punishment. This is 
the orthodox faith of the Church, and when denied, is 



SINS, MORTAL AND VENIAL. 67 

the result of ignorance; oi' a matter of expediency to 
conceal the facts. The Catechism of Trent says : 

"The absolution of the priest, which is expressed in words, 
seals, therefore, the remission of sins which it accomplishes in 
the soul." (P. 180.) 

"Unlike the authority given to the priests of the Old Law, 
to declare the leper cleansed from his leprosy, the power with 
which the priests of the New Law are invested is not simply to 
declare that sins are forgiven, but, as the ministers of God, 
really to absolve from sin; a power which God himself, the au- 
thor and source oi* grace and justification, exercises through 
their ministry." (P. 182.) 

"There is no sin, however enormous, or however frequently 
repeated, which penance does not remit." (P. 183.) 

"The voice of the priest, who is legitimately constituted a 
minister for the remission of sins, is to he heard as that of Christ 
himself^ who said to the lame man ' Son, be of good cheer, thy 
sins are forgiven thee.' " (P. 189.) 

This may all seem clear to those who mat/ not investi- 
gate, and who dare not doubt; but what, are the facts, 
and Avhere is the evidence to sustain them ? In this sys- 
tem things are assumed which most need proof to sus- 
tain them. 

Where is the evidence that priests, either good or 
bad, can infallibly discriminate between mortal and 
venial sins, and, as God, grant judicial pardon, or retain 
sin? And what presumptuous mortal dare assert that 
to violate the moral Liw and offend an infinite God is 
only a venial sin? Who shall decide this momentous 
question, involving the destiny of immortal souls ? 

Where is the authority from the Bible for this absurd 
division of sins into mortal and venial — the former de- 
serving endlesS punishment, and the latter temporal 



68 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXrOSED. 

punishment; the former only forgiven by a Roman priest, 
the latter by other devices, including holy water, the 
eucharist, penance, and purgatorial fire ? We are in- 
formed that there are just "seven chief mortal sins ;" 
"Pride," " covetousness," "lust," "anger," "gluttony," 
" envy," " sloth." Now, this is true, or it is not true. 
If true, the evidence of its truthfulness will be found in 
the Bible. So important a matter will not be left to in- 
ference or conjecture. It is a personal matter with 
every intelligent being on earth. One mistake here, ac- 
cording to this doctrine, may destroy the soul forever. 

But it is a singular fact that inspired men, engaged 
in writing the Scriptures during a period of more than 
fifteen hundred years, and discussing sin in all its forms 
and phases, never made this modern discovery relative 
to the great distinction between mortal and venial sins. 
They never marked the line of distinction w^here venial 
sin becomes mortal, or the finite becomes infinite. This 
important omission has been a great source of annoyance 
to Roman theologians, and will probably so continue till 
their system of theology changes for the better, or till it 
is numbered with the things of the past. How the Ro- 
man clergy ascertained that there w^ere seven mortal sins, 
we are not informed; we have this assertion, and 
nothing more. But at every step we encounter diffi- 
culty. Pride, for example, is a deadly sin. Is every 
degree of pride deadly or mortal sin ? If so, all who are 
not perfect in humility are constantly living in mortal 
sin. If this be true, how many of the cflergy would be 



SINS, MORTAL AND VENIAL. 69 

free from mortal sin for one hour ? Would the Pope of 
Rome escape ? But if every degree of pride is not mor- 
tal sin, in what degree must it exist before it becomes 
deadly ? When does it pass that undefined, intangible 
line Avhich separates the venial from the mortal sins ? 
Echo answers, where ? Here we are left in the dark. 
All is indefinite. 

Again, we are informed that covetousness is a deadly 
sin. Is every degree of it so ? If not, what degree is ? 
The same questions may be asked relative to the whole 
seven mortal sins, and no definite answer given. The 
division of sin into mortal and venial is absurd. After 
all, if the list of mortal sins be admitted, w^e are not sure 
that it is complete. Lying and dealing are usually re- 
garded as sins. Is every lie a mortal sin ? If so, what 
would become of the clergy ? And if not, how many 
lies constitute a mortal sin ? The Bible says : " Thou 
shalt not steal." But some persons do steal, which is a 
positive violation of the law of God. Is every theft a 
mortal sin ? Or is the violation of a commandment of 
the Decalogue only a small sin which may be washed 
away by a few drops of holy-water, or a few alms-deeds, 
or a little penance ? Here St. Liguori answers this ques- 
tion conditionally. He says of the thief: 

"If he has taken a valuable material at any one time, he 
has sinned mortallj^ at that time. But if he has stolen a small 
amount at different times, then he has not sinned mortally, 
unless it amount to a valuable quantity; provided that from 
the beginning he had not the intention of reaching a valuable 
amount; but since that amount has now become considerable 



70 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

(gravis)^ although he has not sinned mortally, jQi he is bound — 
sub-gravi — under mortal sin, to restitution, at least of that last 
quantity which constituted the amount considerable.'' 

According to this distinguished theologian and saint, 
a man may steal small quantities without being guilty 
of niortal sin ; and when goods or money stolen amount 
to a considerable sum (the language is indefinite), he is 
bound to restore the last quantify stolen. Of course he 
may keep the rest, and only be guilty of a venial sin, 
which is a small matter, and may, or may not, be men- 
tioned in the confessional. Again he says : 

"But probably those who have eaten fruit in the vineyards 
of others, provided they be not rare, or of great price, may be 
excused, at least from mortiil sin, if they do not cany it away 
in large quantities. For in things of this kind, which are too 
little expounded, a greater quantity is required to constitute a 
valuable amount. And in this way men-servants and maid- 
servants may be easily excused, who take from their master's 
tables, provided they be not in lai-ge quantities, or extraordi- 
nary. Neither ought those to be regarded as guilty of mortal 
sin who cut wood, or take their flocks to feed in the fields of 
the community', though it be prohibited, because such j)rohibi- 
tions are supposed to be j^enal." 

Stealing is, therefore, admissible, provided it is not in 
large quantities at one time. It is a small matter for 
servants to steal, provided they do not take too much at 
one time (which might lead to their detection). This 
possibly may, in part, account for the incessant small 
stealing for which many of their servants are so noto- 
rious. Again : 

*'When thefts are committed by children, or by wives, a 
much greater quantity is required to constitute the sin mortal; 



SINS, MORTAL AND VENIAL. 71 

and rarely are these held under strong obligation (gravi obli- 
gatione) to restore." 

Comment is useless ; theft is sanctioned, and the 
amount indefinite. It is a much greater quaniiiy than some 
other quantity, but no definite specification in either case. 

Again : 

"If he [the thief] can not make restitution without reduc- 
ing himself to severe want; that is, without falling irom that 
state which he has justly acquired, then he may defer restitu- 
tion, provided the loser be not in severe want. T^ay, though 
the loser be in severe want, probably even then the debtor is 
not bound to restitution, when he is likewise in severe want, 
and by restitution would be placed, as it were, in extreme 
necessity. This, however, is understood, provided the thing 
stolen does not exist in species, and provided the loser was not 
reduced particularly by the theft to that severe necessity." 

Circumstances must determine Avhether the property 

stolen must be restored. 

*'If the theft is uncertain, that is, if the person injured is 
uncertain, the penitent is bound to restore, either by causing 
masses to be said, or giving alms to the poor, or giving it to 
pious places; and if he is poor, he may apply it to himself or 
his family. But if the person is certain, restitution should be 
made to him: wherefore it is indeed wonderful that there are 
found so many confessors so unskillful, who, when it is known 
who the loser is, impose on their penitents, that for the thing 
to be restored they should give alms, or cause masses to be 
celebrated." 

Here is a genuine Roman Catholic process of restitu- 
tion. A theft has been perpetrated by a Romanist, and 
the fact known to the priest — is the thief denounced, or 
excluded from the Church ? No. If he is not certain 
as to the person injured, he h hound to restore, either hy 
causing masses to he said, or giving alms to the poor, or giiy 



72 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

ing it to pious places. That is, in plain English, give it 
to the priests. This is not only authorizing theft, but 
requiring the thief to divide Avith the priest. And facts 
may be exhibited to show that this villainous practice is 
now sanctioned, and furnishes a source of revenue to 
the Roman Church. Among the thousands of Roman 
Catholics annually convicted of theft, who throng the 
house of correction, the county jail, and State-prison, not 
one in a thousand was ever known to make restitution 
to a Protestant. The question arises. What becomes of 
the property ? Does the thief appropriate it to his own 
use, and conceal the fact from the priest in confession? 
If so, how can the priest grant valid absolution ? Or 
does he confess, and pay it to the priest for masses ? Or 
do they divide the stolen property between them? 
These are nice points in Romish theology, and Protest- 
ants demand answers. 

What right has a priest, more than any other man, to 
conceal stolen property, or to appropriate it to his own 
use, or that of his Church ? This subject requires inves- 
tigation, and justice demands that, where a confessing 
Catholic is convicted of theft, and does not make restitu- 
tion, the priest should be held for his knowledge of the 
crime and complicity in the act. The priest has knowl- 
edge of the crime, or he has not. If he has not, all his 
pretended absolutions are impositions, and he is ohtaining 
monejj under false pretense. If he has knowledge of the 
crime, he knows where the stolen property is, and to 
whom it belongs, and if he does not restore it, or cause 



SINS, MORTAL AND VENIAL. 73 

it to be restored, he is, by implication, ^'particeps criminisy 
He has, in equity, no more right to screen himself from 
punishment under the sanctimonious garb of his profes- 
sion, than any other felon. Thousands of families who 
reside in cities can testify that thefts among Romanists 
are of daily occurrence. The police court of any city 
will attest this fact. From the small articles in the 
wardrobe, bed-chamber, and cupboard, to gold watches, 
bracelets, and pocket-books — nothing is safe. And so 
far as our observation has extended (with few excep- 
tions), the more zealous the penitent in attending confes- 
sion the more frequent the thefts. These facts may not 
be successfully denied. It will be observed in the last 
extract from St. Liguori (that dear saint of blessed 
memory) that there is one contingency which may de- 
prive the priest of the stolen property, that is, if the 
thief "is poor he may apply it to himself or his family.'* 
And history establishes the ffict there is no scarcity 
of poor thieves where the Romish clergy exercise a con- 
trolling influence. Look at Italy, Spain, Mexico, and 
other Romish countries, where the streets are thronged 
with Roman lOatholic paupers. And in our own country 
nearly all the itinerant beggars are of Romish origin. 
With these facts before us, will any sane man pretend 
that Romish schools are adapted to the wants of Ameri- 
can youth ? It requires not the wisdom of Solomon to 
predict that children trained under such principles are 
liable to be corrupted — ruined. 

The worst of liars began their downward course by 



74 AUEICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

telling lies which they considered of trifling importance. 
The Avorst thieves and robbers began their course by 
stealing small quantities. If children are taught to 
regard such lying and thieving "a small and very 
pardonable offense," they may be induced to yield to 
temptation, which will terminate in disgrace and ruin. 

Such morality Romanists must teach in their schools 
and in the confessional or discard their own doctrines, 
which they profess to believe are ipfallibly true. But 
such is not the training required by American youth and 
citizens. 

This division of sins into mo7ial and venial is grossly 
absurd, nnd more grossly immoral, and doubtless ac- 
counts, in part, for the prevalence of immorality in 
Homan countries, and among Homanists in Protestant 
countries. Dishonesty is the legitimate result of such 
teaching. 

God says, " Thou shalt not steal." The priest says 
you may steal and give it to him for saying masses. 
Thus, by precept and example, making void the law of 
God. The Bible teaches that all unrighteousness is sin, 
and " the wages of sin is death." It does not say the 
wages of mortal sin is death. Ezekiel declares "the 
soul that sinneth it shall die." He did not say the soul 
that sinneth mortally shall die. If a man is a thief, he 
is so at heart ; and whether he steal one dollar or ten 
thousand, he is morally a thief, and would he so at heart 
if there was not a dollar in the universe to steal. The 
impure stream only proclaims the quality of the fount- 



SINS, 310RTAL AND VENIAL. 75 

ain. Sin is estimated not by weights and measures, or 
by dollars and cents, but by the nature of the law 
violated and the majesty of the Being offended. All sin 
is against God and his law; and if ever pardoned, God 
must do it. Away Avith the blasphemous jugglery of 
self-constituted judicial dictators and clerical pretenders. 



'6 A VBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED, 



CHAPTER YII. 

POWER OF THE KEYS. 

rpO make a show of decency, and to justify the abom- 
-*- illations of the confessional, the Roman clergy, with 
accustomed audacitj^, have quoted and perverted the 
Scriptures. In proof of this system, we are referred to 
Numbers v, 6, 7, Matthew iii, 6, Acts xix, 18, and 
James v, 16, as authority for the confessional. But what 
rehition have these Scriptures to the subject ? Do they 
teach the duty of Auricular Confession? Do they de- 
fine the seal of confession, which enjoins eternal secrecy? 
Do they affix the penalty of "eternal damnation" to be 
inflicted on either priest or penitent who shall reveal the 
secrets of the confessional ? Do they prove that " all 
are ohligcd to confess to the priests at least once each 
year?" Do they show that the priest, in the confes- 
sional, " is as God," and in the court-room " is as man ?" 
Do they prove that Auricular Confession constitutes any 
part of Christian duty, or that, under any circumstances; 
a penitent may " behold in the priest the person of Jesus 
Christ?" Do these Scriptures teach that Christian men 
and women should crouch in self-abasement before a 
Romish priest — regarding themselves as criminals before 
their judge?" Do they say any thing about " mortaV^ 



■POWER OF THE KEYS. 77 

and venial sins,'' or about absolution from sin " by the 
power of the keys?" No; not one word about all this; 
not so much as a form of prayer to the Virgin Mary, 
nor a word of instruction about the use of '^ frayer-headsr 
Truly, Moses, John the Baptist, Luke, and James were 
poor specimens for R-oman priests. They seemed to be 
entirely ignorant of Auricular Confession, and nowhere 
inculcated the practice, either by precept or example. 

But, since Romanists refer to these Scriptures as 
authority for their abominations in the confessional, each 
shall receive a separate examination. 

"Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman 
shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against 
the Lord, and that person be guilty: then they shall confess 
their sin which they have done," etc. (Num. v, 6, 7.) 

Now, let it be observed that this instruction was 
given to Israel, and related to ceremonial restitution ; and 
neither furnishes precept nor example for Auricular 
Confession. 

The context show^s that reference is here made to 
certain fraudulent transactions for which restitution Avas 
due; and the confession was intended to show why, and 
for w^hat, the indemnity w^as offered. This text does not 
speak of confessing in the ear of a priest in secret. A 
man or Avoman was not required to ransack every corner 
of the conscience, as papists are, and in detail enumerate 
every evil thought, word, or deed. The confession may 
have been made to God, or it may have been made to 
the party wTonged. But if it be admitted that it w^as 



78 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

made to the Jewish priest, there is no evidence that it 
was whispered in his ear in a dark corner of the Taberna- 
cle, or any pledge of secrecy imposed on either party. 
The common people did not enter into the Tabernacle ; 
but met the priest in the outer court, where it Avas im- 
possible to communicate privately. 

Again, with an air of confidence, we are referred to 
Matthew iii, 6 : 

"And were baptized of him [John] in Jordan, confessing 
their sins." 

This certainly is a bad specimen of Auricular 
Confession. 

1. John the Baptist was a Jewish, and not a Romish, 
priest. He was also the first-horn son of a high-priest, 
and consequently a high-priest himself His father was 
a married man, and certainly not good authority with 
Romish priests. 

2. The people confessed not in secret to John the 
Baptist, but in the presence of the multitude "from Je- 
rusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about 
Jordan." (Matthew iii, 5.) 

This confession was not whispered in the ear, under 
a mutual pledge of secrecy; but open, free, and volun- 
tary. It was not in a dark corner, nor in the confession- 
box; but at the River Jordan, and in presence of all the 
people. There is no record to prove that the people fell 
down upon their knees before "father" John, made the 
sign of the cross, "kissed the good priest's hand," recited 
the "Confiteor," and whispered their confessions in his 



POWER OF THE KEYS. 79 

ears. Not one word is said about "penance" to be per- 
formed, after confession or absolution " by the power of 
the keys." They came publicly, and confessed their 
sins; and John publicly required them, as an evidence 
of sincerity, to "bring forth fruits meet for repentance." 
They desired to "flee from the wrath to come;" and John 
directed them to believe on Christ. (Acts xix, 4.) 
Again, we are referred to Acts xix, 18 : 

''And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed 
their deeds." 

This text, also, fails to prove Auricular Confession. 

1. It may be observed that many^ not all, came and 
confessed. 

2. They showed their deeds. Their confession became 
a matter of public record; it was known not only to 
Paul, but Luke published it to the Avorld ; and yet there 
is no evidence that he was excommunicated, or consigned 
to endless perdition. 

"Many of them, also which used curious arts brouo:ht their 
books together, and burned them before all men : and they 
counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces 
of silver." 

They did not burn their books in the confession-box ; 
for it is distinctly stated that they burned them before all 
men. Books valued at fifty thousand pieces of silver 
would produce an unpleasant amount of smoke in a 
modern confession-box. And yet there is as much evi- 
dence that they burned their books in secret as that they 
confessed their sins to Paul in secret. The truth is, 



80 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Paul preached to the people, not in an unknown tongue, 
but in a language which the common people could un- 
derstand, "and the name of the Lord Jesus was mag- 
nified." Men were converted by the power of God, 
through the truth. They came and sJioived their deeds — 
exhibited their past folly as beacons to warn others. 
They renounced their former practices, and publicly 
espoused the cause of Christ. 

Again, we are referred to James v, 16 : 

"Confess your faults one to another," etc. 

This text, also, proves too much for those Avho advo- 
cate Auricular Confession. It does not say. Confess 
your faults to ih^ priests, and regard yourselves as crim- 
inals; but it does say. Confess your faults "one to an- 
other ^ Now, if this refers to Auricular Confession, it 
requires the priest to confess to the penitent, and the 
penitent to confess to the priest. The obligation is as 
binding on the one as on the other. And, after all, there 
might arise a question as to who should grant absolution. 
We have learned, from Peter Dens's "Moral Theology/' 
that the priest in the confessional may break the Seventh 
Commandment (sixtji of the Douay Bible), and imme- 
diately grant his accomplice in guilt absolution from "all 
other sins," "theft and homicide" not excepted. And in 
case that his accomplice in guilt is in danger of death, 
the priest can also grant her absolution from the sin of 
fornication or adultery with himself. But where there 
is not present danger of death, the case of his accomplice 



THE CONFESSIONAL. 81 

must be referred to another priest for absolution. It 
does not require extraordinary sagacity to see how two 
licentious priests could confess their ftiults one to the other, 
and each pronounce on the other absolution. This would 
not be more difficult than to absolve an accomplice ; and, 
under the circumstances, might entirely dispense Avith 
penance. If the priest guilty of adultery or fornication 
may grant absolution to his accomplice in the crime, Ave 
see no good and sufficient reason why he may not grant 
absolution to himself also. This certainly Avould super- 
sede the necessity of confession on his part, since he 
already knows the facts and circumstances of the case. 

But, after all, it appears^ from Dens's "Theology," 
that there are certain restrictions upon the immorality 
of the priests. They are required to exercise their gifts 
in moderation; and the priest Avho "deliberately falls" 
only "two or three times a month" ought to doubt his 
qualification for the holy dffice of confessor. Thus it 
may be seen that, in theory/ at least, all sense of decency 
and propriety is not wholly excluded from sacramental 
confession. 

Having failed to find Scripture proof for Auricular 
Confession, the priests of Rome have recourse to infer- 
ential evidence predicated ui^on fake assumptions: 

1. They assume that the Apostle Peter was the vicar 
of Jesus Christ on earth; that he held the keys of the* 
kingdom of glory, with power and authority to open' 
heaven or hell at discretion. 

2. They assume that they are the apostolic succe&sors^ 

6 



82 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

of Peter; and, by virtue of their relation to him, they 
possess judicial power to forgive sin, or to retain sin ; 
and that the kingdom of glory can only be entered by 
their permission. 

3. They assume that, in order to obtain the remission 
of sin, all mortal sins must be confessed to them in 
secret. 

4. They assume that all, of every creed and nation, 
Avho will not bow the knee to them in confession are to 
experience endless perdition. 

These arrogant assumptions are set up by men Avho, 
according to their own admission, are liable to break the 
Seventh Commandment two or three times a month; and 
whose history furnishes many melancholy proofs of their 
wickedness in this respect. 

Again, they refer to Matthew xviii, 19 : 

• Yerily I say unto you, Whatsoever ^"0 shall bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on 
earth shall be loosed in heaven." 

This Scripture also fails to furnish inferential proof 
of their assumptions. The context shows that it referred 
to the discipline of the Church by the apostles on earth; 
and, when administered by them according to the princi- 
ples of their religion, it would meet the approbation of 
Heaven. The apostles neither claimed nor exercised the 
power of which Romish priests boast. If the power 
which they claim had been given to Peter, there is no 
evidence that he was authorized to transmit it to any 
other person. But there is no evidence that either 



POWER OF THE KEYS. ' 83 

Peter or any other apostle received or exercised the 
power to forgive sins. 

Our Lord addressed not Peter alone, but all the apos- 
tles: "Whatsoever ye shall bind," etc. He did not say 
whosoever, but whatsoever. He referred to things, and not 
to persons ; to the discipline of the Church, and not to the 
destint/ of its members. 

The language is plain, "Pe shall hind" The phrase 
to hind and to loose, among the Jews, often signified 
nothing more than to prohibit and to permit* To hind a 
thing was to forbid it • to loose a thing was to allow it to 
be done, and on that occasion the phrase was without 
doubt employed in this sense. Thus, relative to gather-- 
ing Avood on the Sabbath-day, they said, "-The School of 
Shammei hinds it " — that is, forbids it ; " the School of 
Hillel, looses it " — that is, allows it. The phrase " king- 
dom of heaven" is frequently employed to denote the 
Church of Christ on earth. Matt, iii, 2, "The king- 
dom of heaven is at hand." 

John the Baptist did not mean the kingdom of glory. 
No, he referred to the new dispensation into which the 
Church was about to enter. So in the parables of our 
Lord, " the kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of 
mustard seed;" "the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a 
man which sowed good seed in his field;" it "is like 
leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of 
meal;" it "is like unto a net." Again, the disciples 
asked "w^ho is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 
(Matthew xviii, 1.) "From the days of John the 



84 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven sulTereth 
violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 
xi, 12.) 

These and other Scriptures evidently refer to the 
Church under the new dispensation. The apostles of 
Christ were ministers of the Church on earth. They were 
not priests to offer sacrifice. They were not dictators to 
lord it over God's heritnge. They were not judicial 
" vicars " of Jesus Christ to consign men to perdition 
at pleasure. They were not as Gods in confession- 
boxes to forgive sins. They were ministers of Jesus 
Christ on earth, authorized to preach the Gospel, to ad- 
mit to Church privileges those who ought to enter, and 
exclude the unworthy. They were authorized to admit 
those who gave evidence of piety, and exclude others, 
and the legitimate exercise of this power ^vould meet the 
approbation of Heaven. 

Again we are referred to John xx, 22 and 23 : 

"And when he hud said this, he breathed on them, and saith 
unto tliem^ Eeceive ye the Hoi}' Ghost; whosesoever sins ye 
remit, they are remitted nnto them; and whosesoever sins ye 
retain, they are retained." 

This is a parallel Scripture with Matthew xviii, etc., 
and inculcates the same doctrine. Did he breathe on 
Peter alone? No, "he breathed on thern, and saith 
unto them [to those who Avere present, Judns and 
Thomas only were absent, but probably were both pres- 
ent on the former occasion], Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost." This was a pledge of the miraculous endoAvment 



POWER OF THE KEYS. 85 

experienced by them on the day of Pentecost. (Acts ii, 
1 and 2.) "Whosesoever sins ye remit," etc. 

The meaning of this Scripture is not that men can for- 
give sins, but that the inspired apostles, in founding the 
Church under the new dispensation should be taught by 
the Holy Ghost to declare on what terms, to what charac- 
ters, and to what moral state of mind God would bestow 
the forgiveness of sins. They were by inspiration au- 
thorized to establish in all the Churches the condition 
on which men might be pardoned, with the assurance 
that all who would coniplj^ should have the evidence of 
forgiveness and reconciliation, and those who would not 
comply with the condition, should not be forgiven, but 
be rejected on account of their willful rejection of offered 
pardon. 

Again, we are referred to Matt, xvi, 18 : 

"And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it." 

This is the chief corner-stone in the temple of popery, 
and without it the building will fall to ruin. This Scrip- 
ture is pressed into almost every sermon, in advocacy or 
defense of popery. It is on the lips of papists every- 
where, and often quoted by those who never read it, and 
who could not read it if they had access to a Bible de- 
pository containing all the languages of earth. As to 
the fact that it is the language of Jesus Christ, none 
will deny ; but the great question is. What does it mean ? 
What was the great lesson intended to be taught? Is it 



86 AURICULAE CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

true that Jesus Christ was about to establish popery, and 
took this occasion to announce the appointment of Peter 
i\\Q first pope, with power to continue his succession to the 
end of time? Did he then and there intend to appoint 
him Vicar-general, with "divine righf to govern the world, 
to dictate to kings, emperors, governments, and states? 
to preside over the Church; to hold the keys of heaven 
and hell, and, in person or by proxy, save or damn men 
at pleasure ? If this Avas the place of Peter's corona- 
tion it must have been attended with far less pomp 
and parade than that of many of his pretended suc- 
cessors. And in imparting such extraordinary power 
to be perpetuated by successors to the end of time, 
the commission w*ill be found clear and unequivocal, 
and the instructions detailed and specific. What are 
the facts ? 

When driven from every other subterfuge, Romanists 
appeal, in vain, to the Bible to sustjiin their system. 
They use the Scripture as Satan did on the mountain 
and on the pinnacle of the temple. They quote it that 
they may pervert it. If they really believe that the 
Scriptures are a sufficient rule of faith and practice, why 
are they continually appealing to tradition and the 
Church as authority ? Or if Ave must obei/ the Church, 
regardless of our convictions of truth, as revealed in the 
Scriptures, why refer to the Scriptures ? Why not go 
to the Church at once ? Why compel us to fonn opinions, 
and thereby become heretics, in order to believe Romish 
Infallibility and Auricular Confession ? 



POWER OF TBE KEYS. . 87 

But since they have appealed to the Scriptures they 
shall go to their favorite text : 

''- Tliou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will 
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and what- 
soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : and 
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 
(Matt, xvi, 18, 19.) 

The disciples were interrogated relative to their faith 
in Christ : " Whom, sny ye that I am ? Peter answered, 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And 
Jesus answered and said unto him : Blessed art thou, 
Simon Bar-jona : for flesh and blood hath not revealed it 
unto thee, but my Father w'hich is in heaven. And I 
say also unto thee, thou art Peter," etc. This Scripture 
is evidently the main pillar by which they attempt to 
prop their ^assumed infallibility. They apply this Scrip- 
ture as if Christ had said, "Thou art Peter, and upon 
thee will I build my Church." Peter, and not Christ, is 
thus constituted the foundation of the Romish Church." 
Upon this exegesis the infallibility of the Church is 
boldly asserted. This is the rock on which that sect is 
built. Now let its solidity be tested by a few blows 
from the hammer of truth, and this sandstone of would- 
be infallibility will crumble to dust. Truth is consistent 
w4th itself. One Bible truth never contradicts another. 
The rules of interpretation require that any given pas- 
sage in any writing is to be understood in harmony with 
the whole. No single paragraph or passage is to be so 
construed as to clash with, or contradict the uniform sense 



88 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

of the author on the same subject. This Avill apply in 
the case before us. Christ said to Peter, Upon this rock 
I will build my Church. The question is, To Avhat rock 
did Christ refer? Was it to Peter, a short-sighted erring, 
fallible man ? Or was it to Christ, the object of Peter's 
faith? Some suppose this rock referred to Peter; others 
to Peter's profession ; others refer it to Christ himself; 
Avhile other learned linguists regard the declaration of 
Christ ns plain and unequivocal, and that it should be 
read. Thou art Petros (masculine gender), a rock, a stone, 
a pebble (movable). On this Petra (feminine gender), 
a rock, a granite, immovable, will I build my Church, 
and the gates of hell (councils of wicked men and devils) 
shall not prevail against it — shall not overcome, conquer, 
or subdue it. 

It is admitted that Petra is a Greek noun in the 
feminine gender; the pronoun '''taute,'^ (this) in the 
Greek text, is in the feminine gender agreeing with the 
noun '''Petrar And Petros (Peter) is in the masculine 
gender. Petra^ then, must refer to something different 
from Peter. If the Savior had proposed to build his 
Church on Peter, he Avould have used Petros twice 
instead of Petros and Petra. 

Can it be possible that the Omniscient Jesus, who 
knew the end from the beginning, and who knew the 
hearts of all men, would use such language on a subject 
so important that not one of his disciples understood it? 
Or that he gave to Peter the keys of heaven and hell, 
and that Peter was so stupid that during his life he went 



POWER OF THE KEYS. 89 

about with the keys dangling to his girdle, and neither 
he nor any other person ever suspected that he had 
them. If Peter had the keys, and was so ignorant of 
his power, or otherwise so derelict in duty that he never 
used them, he must have been a poor specimen of pebble 
on which to build a Church. In a commission in perpe- 
tuity to save or damn men, to open and shut the king- 
dom of glory at pleasure, obscurity or ambiguity is not 
admissible. A just and holy God would not thus trifle 
with his creatures. And it is not less unreasonable to 
suppose that the Omniscient Jehovah w^ould send his 
Son to die for the world, that all might be saved, and 
then impart to a fallible man, or men, the keys of glory 
by which they may at pleasure exclude those for whom 
Christ died. 



90 



AURICULAR CONFESSIO:S EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER YIII. 



THE CLERGY AND CONCUBINES. 



" DE A"BSOLUTION£ COMPLICIS. 

"Advertendum quod null us 
confes?<ariiis, extra mortis per- 
iculum, licet alias habeat po- 
testatem absolvendi areservjitis 
absolvere possit aut valeat a 
peccnto quolibet mortali exter- 
no contra castita tern, complieem 
in eodem secum peceato. 

"Hie casus eonipiicis non 
colloeatur, inter casus reserva- 
tos, quia episcopus non reservat 
sibi absolutionem, sed quilibet 
alius confessarius ])otest ab eo 
absolvere, prseterquam sacer- 
dos complex." (Dens, tom. 6, 
297.) 



"An comprehenditur mas- 
culus comjilex in peceato ve- 
nereo v. g. per tactus? 

"i2. Affirmative, quia Pon- 
tifex extendit ad qualemcum- 
que personam. 

"Non requiritur ut hoc pec- 
catum complicis patratum sit 
in confessione, vel occasione 
confessionis; quoeumque enini 



" ON THE ABSOLUTION OP AN AC- 
COMPLICE. 

"Let it be observed that, ex- 
cept in case of danger of death, 
no confessor, though he may 
otherwise have the power of 
absolving from reserved cases, 
may or can absolve his accom- 
plice in any external mortal sin 
against chastitj^ committed by 
the accom2)lice with the con- 
fessor himself 

" This case of an accomplice is 
NOT placed amongst the reserved 
cases, because tlie bishop does not 
reserve the absolution to himself; 
but any other confessor can ab- 
solve from it, except the priest who 
is himself the partner in the act.^* 
(Dens, vol. 6, p. 297.) 

"Is a male accomplice in ve- 
nereal sin — to wit, by touches — 
comprehended in this degree? 

"J.. Yes; because the Pope 
extends it to whatsoever per- 
son. 

"It is not required that this 
sin of an accomplice be com- 
mitted in confession, or by oc- 
casion of confession ; for, in 



THE CLERGY AND CONCUBINES. 



91 



loco vel tempore factum est, whatever place or time it has 
etiam antequam esset confessa- been done, even before he was 



iier confessor, it makes a case 
of an accom2)lice." (Dens, vol. 
6, p. 298.) 

" Lastl3^ take note tliat, since 
the restriction is made to car- 



rius, facit casum complicis." 
(Dens, torn. 6, 298.) 

""N"ota ultimo, cum restric- 
tio fiat ad peccata carnis, po- 

terit confessarins compliceni in nal sins, the confessor w^ill be 

aliis peccatis, v. g. in • furto, able to give valid absolution 

homicidio, etc., valide absol- to his accomplice in other 

vere." (Dens, tom. 6, 298.) sins; namely, in theft, in hom- 
icide, etc." (Dens, vol. 6, p. 298.) 

" Confessarius sollicitavit ''A confessor has seduced his 

poenitentem ad turpia, non in penitent to the commission of 

confessione, nee occasioue con- carnal sin, not in confession, 

fessionis, sed ex alia occasione nor b}' occasion of confession, 

extraordinaria : an est denun- but from some other extraor- 



dinary occasion: is he to be 
denounced? 

"J.. ISTo. If he had tampered 
with her from his knowledge 
of confession, it Avould be a 



tiandus? 

"-R. I^egative. Aliud foret, 
si ex scientia confessionis sol- 
licitaret; quia, v. g., ex confes- 
sione novit, illam personam different thing; . because, for 
deditam tali peccato venereo." instance, he knows that person, 
(P. Antoine, tom. 4, 430; Dens, from her confession, to be given 
tom. 6, 298.) to such carnal sins." (P. An- 

toine, vol. 4, p. 430; Dens, vol. 
6, p. 298.) 

The above extracts are from the "Mechliniae" edition 
of Dens's "Moral Theology/' bearing date A. D. 1864, in 
seven volumes. It is published by the Society for the 
Propagation of the Faith, and sold by the Pope's pub- 
lisher and importer in New York. The original books 
are before us. We also have the Dublin edition, eight 
volumes; and the extracts here inserted will be found 
in it, in volume 6, pages 218 and 219. We thus mi- 



92 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

nutely describe, that the clergy may not quibble as to 
the authenticity of the works, as they are disposed to do 
when there is the possibility of a doubt. If prudence 
would permit, we might add largely to these quotations 
from this and other theological works. 

Here let the reader pause and consider the import of 
these brief extracts, and infer, if he can, what would 
be the condition of society and the destiny of our be- 
loved country if this intolerant system of corruption 
should gain the ascendanc}^ A glance at the subject 
will disclose the following facts: 

1. That a priest in the confessional, ^' as God,'' pre- 
tending to forgive sin, may seduce his female penitent, 
and pardon every other sin which she has committed ex- 
cept that one act of licentiousness with her lordly con- 
fessor; and, if she is in danger of death, he can pardon 
that sin also. 

2. That when the priest, in confession, has seduced a 
female penitent who is not in present danger of death, 
he can forgive every other sin which she has committed 
except that act of licentiousness with himself, and an- 
other priest must pardon (or absolve) that. 

This, certainly, is a very easy way to dispose of the 
vilest crimes. Priests may thus aid each other in their 
pious work of prostitution; and such female penitents 
may make short work of confession, seeing the facts are 
already known to the father-confessor who is her accom- 
plice in guilt. 

What more God-dishonoring, heaven-daring insolence 



THE CLERGY AND CONCUBINES, 93 

could have been devised? And yet, in the estimation 
of this learned Doctor of Divinity, it is not a matter of 
sufficient importance to be referred to the bishop. ''An?/ 
other priest can grant ahsolutionr 

Such is Roman theology and its legitimate results; 
and this may in part explain the necessity for ''eternal 
secrecy''' relative to the transactions in the confessional. 

3. The restriction is only made to "carnal sins" (sins 
against chastity); consequently, the "confessor can grant 
valid absolution to his accomplice in all other sins; 
namely, in theft ^ m homicide, etc." 

Comment here is superfluous. With this system of 
theology in the hands of professional experts in the arts 
of seduction and crime, Avhere is the protection for virtue, 
character, life, or property? 

When thousands of the Roman clergy, Avith their de- 
grading theology, are worming their Avay into every de- 
partment of society, instilling in the minds of youth and 
unsuspecting females the most pernicious sentiments, in 
the name of religion and by authority of a professedly 
infallible Church, it ceases to be a matter of surprise 
that unblushing crime stalks abroad in every department 
of society.' It is not strange that prisons and poor-houses 
are increasing, that brothels and foundling institutions 
are multiplying, and that Mngdnlene institutions have 
become a necessity in the Church of Rome, and are 
polluting American soil. 

It is not strange, with a system of corruption like 
this intrenching itself in the midst of pure and virtuous 



94 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

society, that the fond hopes of parents are often blasted, 
and their gray hairs brought down to the grave sorrowing. 

And it is not strange that those Avho know^ the facts 
are Avilling to jeopard life and property to expose and 
prevent the evil. The wonder is that' this system of 
clericnl debauchery has not been suppressed by enlight- 
ened public sentiment or penal enactments. 

If the confessional stood alone, it would seem enough 
to corrupt the nation ; but when taken in connection 
with the system to Avhich it belongs, it is truly the 
"mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and 
and abominations of the earth." 

The obligations of secrecy shall not longer conceal the 
abominations of the confessional. Assumed dignity, or 
threats of personal violence and assassination, will avail 
nothing. Deeds of darkness shall be brought to light 
until legal enactments shall abate the confessional as an 
intolerable nuisance. 

Pope Gregory VII and the Council of Trent prohib- 
ited the marriage of the Roman clergy ; but the latter 
permitted the clergy to keep concubines for a money 
consideration. This fact was clearly established in the 
celebrated debate between the Rev. Doctors Campbell 
and Purcell on Romanism. Dr. Campbell affirmed, Dr. 
Purcell denied, and Dr. Campbell proved that the 
Roman clergy had kept concubines with the knowledge 
and approbation of their ecclesiastical superiors. The 
facts are recorded in the debate, on pages 218, 253, 239, 
359, etc. This fact is also confirmed by the "Moral The- 



THE CLERGY AND CONCUBINES. 95 

ology " of St. Liguori, which, for the benefit of tlie Roman 
clergy who keep Avomen and profess celibacy, we here 
insert, translated into English, the following : 

"A bishop, however poor he may be, can not appropriate to 
himself pecuniary fines, without the license of the Apostolic 
See; but he ought to apply them to pious uses. Much less can 
he ajiply those fines to any thing else but pious uses which the 
Council of Trent has laid upon non-resident clergymen, or 
upon those clergymen who keep concubines." (JLiguori Ep. Doc, 
Mor., p. 444.) 

This translation was made by Dr. Campbell, and was 
not disproved by Archbishop Purcell. The original was 
found in the edition of Liguori, published A. D. 1832, on 
the page indicated. We have before us later editions 
(duplicates), bearing date A.^D. 1846. The Latin text 
is verbatim ; but is found in Vol. IX, page 411 : " Mulc- 
tas pecuniarias Episcopus sibi," etc. Here we have it 
in plain terms. The Roman clergy are licensed to keep 
concubines, and the bishops are req^uired to apply to holt/ 
uses the proceeds of their lustful gratifications. In this, 
as in other cases, the end sanctifies the means. Truly, 
Avith the Roman clergy, money hides a multitude of sins. 
It will be remembered that the Council of Trent is the 
last general council but one, and the above license, not 
being revoked, is now in force. St. Liguori, whose "Moral 
Theology" contains the facts, is an approved theologian, 
and a patron saint in the Roman calendar. So that the 
Roman clergy now have the sanction of the Church for 
keeping concubines, commonly called ''nieces.'" Present 
circumstances and past history clearly indicate the fact 



96 AUEICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

that they often avail themselves of their canonical privi- 
leges. It usually requires not less than one girl or 
woman to keep the priest's house, to provide for his 
toilet and table They frequently eat, sleep, and live 
under the same roof, in a state of seclusion. The out- 
side world has only an occasional glance into their 
secluded devotions ; but enough is known to establish 
the fact that seclusion is not an infallible sign of immac- 
ulate purity. High walls, darkened windows, and bolted 
doors are not inseparably connected with fervent piety. 
Facts at Evansville, St Wendell's, and Vincennes, Ind; 
Bardstown, K}^ ; Alleghany City, Penn.; Montreal, 
Canada ; New York City ; Canton, Macomb, and New 
Berlin, III., and at other places too numerous to men- 
tion, are sufficient to show that if priests are not licensed 
by their Church to keep concubines, they ought, for the 
sake of decency, morality, virtue, religion, and a re- 
spect for the laws of God and man, to be Liwfully mar- 
ried. The foundling institutions of Italy are a sad 
comment on the professed sacerdotal celibacy of the 
clergy, and the vows of chastity taken by priests and 
nuns. 

Those who escape from the tyranny and dungeons of 
monasteries and convents in the United States and in 
Rome, bear their united testimony against the chastity 
of the clergy, and against the purity of monasteries and 
convents. History shows that, in the palm?/ days of the 
Boman sect, in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 
centuries, popes, bishops, and priests were often publicly 



THE CLERGY AND CONCUBINES. 97 

and notoriously licentious; and the licentious popes are 
numbered among the infallible successors of St. Peter, 
through whom the modern clerg}^ profess to obtain power 
to forgive sins and perform miracles. The late Priest 
Hogan says, ''Every 'priest has one concuhine, and some 
have more'' 

When the facilities for concealing vice, and the fear- 
ful obligations of secrecy, are understood, it will be a 
matter of surprise that the secret vices of the clergy are 
ever detected. It may, for the present, suffice to know 
that the Roman clergy in our midst live in seclusion, 
under circumstances Avhich would not be tolerated in any 
other class of clergymen or professional men. 

It might not be amiss for grand jurors to inquire into 
the domestic relations of the Roman clergy and their 
pious "nieces," and for State legislatures to open con- 
vents to inspection, or require them to stand open, as 
other institutions. Prison-pens are not needed in which 
to educate, proselyte, and prostitute American daughters. 
And until priests and nuns can show a purer record of 
convents and monasteries in connection with Auricular 
Confession in Italy, Spain, and other Roman countries, 
they should at least cease to affect superior sanctity in 
America. 

Canon law requires nuns to confess once each month. 

Father Garasche, of St. Louis, says that " custom requires 

them to once a week.'* Every regular convent should 

have at least one father-confessor, Avho may have access 

to the institution by day or by night. 

7 



98 AURWULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. , , 



"Edith O'Gorman/' the escaped nun, in her book k 

corroborates these facts, and shows that, when nuns in 
the school-room and under other circumstances meet 
Protestant girls whom they are endeavoring to proselyte, 
they appear as meek as mercy, as pure as love, and as 
innocent as angels; but in another department, where 
school-girls are not admitted, and where priests and nuns 
have intercourse, there is jealousy and strife, and often 
gross licentiousness; and she defiantly challenged inves- 
tigation, and pledged herself to prove it. They did not 
do it; but endeavored to assassinate her, to suppress 
the facts. 

With these facts before the people, how unreasonable 
that Protestants should persist in patronizing Popery 
and convents. 



CLERICAL SEDUCTION, ROW CONCEALED. 99 



CHAPTER IX. 

CLERICAL SEDUCTION, HOW CONCEALED. 

rpHE fearful obligations and penalties of Auricular Con- 
-*- fession, with the numerous facilities for vice in seclu- 
sion, are not considered a sufficient protection for the 
clergy to prevent disclosures from the confessional. The 
questions to be propounded in the confessional are 
adapted to test the virtue of every female who goes 
there, and thus give the priest unrestrained power to 
select his victims. 

In confession, females are required to confess thoughts, 
desires, emotions, words, and actions, in detail, and 
promptly answ^er all questions propounded by the priest, 
otherwise not obtain absolution./IIaving been thoroughly 
trained to the belief that her salvation is predicated upon 
thorough confession and implicit obedience to her ecclesi- 
astical superior, she dare not incur his displeasure. The 
unfortunate victim thus fettered by education, obliga- 
tions, penalties, and the seclusion of the confessional, 
may fall a victim to the arts of a skillful seducer.^' If 
she willingly consents to his seductive influence, then 
the matter rests between the parties guilty, w^ho are 
equally bound by interest ami obligation to conceal the 
facts. If otherwise, and her inherent womanly virtue 



100 A UmCULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

indignantly resents the lecherous encroachments of her 
clerical seducer, she has no means of sure redress. She 
is bound, under ^^ 'penalty of damnation,'' to secrecy. A 
Protestant lady would fly to the strong arm of a father, 
husband, or brother, and find redress; but she dare not 
do it; her lips are sealed till she first consults the bishop. 
If he refuses to interpose liis authority, she has no re- 
dress whatever. If there is probable danger of scandal, 
the bishop may at pleasure send the priest to another 
parish, where he is not so well known, to practice his 
old tricks. Virtue is not an indispensable qualification 
for a Roman clergyman. The Council of Trent and 
moral theology teaches that vice does not annul "holy 
orders," and that " official acts of a wicked priest are 
valid." (Catechism of Trent, pnge 172, etc.) 

The fact that seduction is practiced in the confes- 
sional can not be successfully denied, and in systems of 
theology provisions are made by which bishops mny so 
regulate it as to prevent scandal to the Church by sup- 
pressing facts. Their method does not remove the evil, 
but otherwise perpetuates and enhances the pernicious 
influence. The following interesting instruction to the 
Roman clergy is found in Dens's Theology, vol. iv, pages 
301; 302, 303 : 

"DE MODO DENUNTIANDI SOLLI- "ON THE MODE OF DENOUNCING 
CITANTEM PRiEFATUM. THE AFORESAID SEDUCER. 

"Primus modus mngis con- " The first and most conveni- 

veniens est si ij^sa persona sol- ent mode is this, if the person 

licitata immediate, nulli, alteri upon whose chastity the at- 

revelando, accedat cpiscopum tempt had been made, would 



CLERICAL SEDUCTION, BOW CONCEALED. 



101 



sive ordinarium. 2. Potest 
episcopo scribere epistolani 
clausam et signatam sab hac 
forma: 'Ego Calharina N"., 
habitans Mechlins in platea 
N. sub signo N. hisce declaro 
me 6 Martii anni 1758 occa- 
sione confessionis fiiisse solici- 
tatum ad irihonesta a confessa- 
rio ^. N. excipiente confes- 
siones Meclilinae, in ecclesia 
iN". quod jaramento confirmare 
parata sum.' " (Dens, torn, vi, 
p. 302.) 



"3. Si autem scribere nequeat, 
si mil is epistola scribatur ab 
alio V. g. a secundo confessa- 
rio cum licentia poenitentis; et 
nomen poenitentis sen personse 
sollicituntis, exprimatur lit su- 
pra : sed nomen confessarii sol- 
licitantis ut occult um man eat 
scribenti, non exprimatur, 
verum a tertio aliquo, rei igna- 
ro, in 'chartula aliqua nomen 
ejus scribatur sub alio prsD- 
texta; qus3 chartula epistolse 
prsefatae incladatur." 



" In hoc casu (denunciatonis) 
tamcn quidam putant moder- 
andum, et considerandas esse 



proceed herself immediately to 
the bishop or the ordinary, 
without revealing the circum- 
stance to any one else. 2. She 
can write a letter, closed and 
sealed, to the bishop, in the 
following form: 'I, Catharine 
'N., dwelling at Mechlin, in the 
street K., under the sign K., by 
these declare, that I, on the 6th 
day of March, 1758, on the oc- 
casion of confession, have been 
seduced to improper acts by 
the confessor N., hearing con- 
fessions at Mechlin, in the 
church N., which 1 am ready 
to confirm on oath.'" (Dens, 
yol. vi, p. 302.) 

" 3. But if she can not write, 
let a similar letter be written 
by another, namel3% by a sec- 
ond confessor, with the license 
of the penitent, and let the 
name of the penitent or per- 
son seduced be expressed as 
above, but let the name of 
the seducing confessor, in or- 
der that it may remain a se- 
cret to the writer, be not ex- 
pressed, but let his name be 
written under a different pre- 
text, by some third" person, 
ignorant of the circumstances, 
on some scrap of paper, which 
may be inclosed in the afore- 
said letter." 

"In this case (of denounc- 
ing), however, some are of 
opinion that moderation must 



102 



AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



circiimstantiasfrequenti8e,peri- be observed, and that the cir- 
culi," etc. (Dens, torn, vi, p. cumstances of frequency, of 



danger, etc., must be consid- 
ered." (Dens, vol. 6, p. 301.) 

"In tlie meantime, confes- 
sors are advised not ligiitly to 



301.) 

"Monentur interea confes- 
sarii, ut mulierculis quibus- 

cumque accusantibus priorem give credit to any woman 

confessarium,fidem leviler non whatsoever, accusing their for- 

adhibeant; sed prius scrutcn- mer confessor, but first to 

tur accusation is finera et cau- search diligently into the end 

sam examinent earuni mores, and cause of the occasion, to 

conversaj^ionem," etc. (Dens, examine their morals, conver- 

vol. vi, p. 302.) sation," etc. (Dens, vol. vi, p. 

302.) 

"Quocirca observa, quod " For which reason observe, 

qua^cumque persona, quae per that whatever person, either 

se vel per aliam, fnlso denuntiat by herself, or by a n ot h e r, 

sacerdotem tanquam soUicita- fixlsely denounces a priest as a 

torem, incurrat casum reserva- seducer, incurs a case reserved 

tum summo Pontifici. Ita for the supreme pontifi^". Thus 

Benedictus XIV. Constit. Sa- Benedict XIV, in the constitu- 

oramentum PcBnitent." (Apud tion, called ' Sa cram e ntum 



Psenitentise." (In Antoine, p. 
418.) 

"Benedict XIY, in the con- 
stitution cited in No. 216, re- 
serves to himself and his suc- 
cessors the sin of falsely de- 



Antoine, p. 418.) 

"Benedictus XIY, in Con- 
stit. ciifcata numero 216, reserv- 
avit sibit et successoribus pec- 
catumfiilsse denuntiationis con- 
fessarii sollicitantis ad turpia, nouncing a confessor for seduc- 
sed sine censura." (Dens, tom. ing his penitent to commit 
vi, p. 303. carnal sin." (Dens, vol. 6, p. 

303.) 

The above extracts might be enlarged ; but they are 
sufficient to illustrate several important facts : 

1. That seduction and licentiousness are practiced in 
the solitude of the confessional, where there is no wit- 
ness to corroborate the testimony of the outraged and 



CLERICAL SEDUCTION, HOW CONCEALED, 103 

insulted female, and when the word of the guilty priest 
would be a sufficient refutation of the charge of guilt. 
Peter Dens shows in subsequent numbers that the testi- 
mony of a priest is to be taken in preference to that of 
a layman. 

2. The fact that a chapter in an approved system of 
theology is devoted exclusively to the best method of 

"denouncing seducing confessors is evidence of the prev- 
alence of the practice. If there be no such thing as a 
will or a warrantee deed there would be no necessity for 
a formula for one. If there is no such thing as clerical 
seduction in the confession, there would be no necessity 
for chapters of detailed instructions as to the best 
methods of concealing the facts from the people and 
making them known to the bishop. 

3. Female penitents are not compelled to report the 
licentiousness of the priests to the bishop; but if they 
do not report to him, they can not to any other person, ex- 
cept to another priest, who may be as vile as the seducer, 
and may thereby take occasion to add insult to injury. 

Priests are not infallible, and St Liguori being judge, 
they are not distinguished for virtue. He says : 
" Among the priests who live in the world, it is rare, 
and very rare, to find any that are good." Regarding 
this as a settled fact, the Saint has given rules to con- 
fessors to guard them against the influence of their coni- 
stitutional and habitual weakness. He says : 

" The confessor ought to be extremely cautious liow be- lienrs- 
the confession of women, and he should particularly bear in' 



104 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

mind what is said in the holj^ congregation of bishops, 21 Janu- 
aiy, 1610: ^Confessors should not, without necessity, hear the con- 
fessions of women after dusk or before twilight,'' In regard to the 
prudence of a confessor, he ought, in general, rather to be rigid 
with joung women, in the confessional, than bland ; neither 
ought he to allow them to come to* him before confession to 
converse with him; much less should he allow them to kiss his 
hands. It is also imprudent for the confessor to let his eyes 
wander after his female penitents, and to gaze upon them as 
they are retiring from confession. The confessor should never, 
receive presents from his female penitents; and he should bo 
particularly careful not to visit them at their houses, except in 
case of severe illness; nor should he visit them then, unless he 
be sent for. In this case he should be very cautious in what 
manner he hears their confessions; therefore the door should be 
left open, and he should sit in" a place where he can be seen by 
others, and he should never fix his eyes upon the face of his 
penitent; especially if they be spiritual jiersons, in regard to 
whom, the danger of attraction is greater. The venerable 
father, Sertorius Capotus, says, tiiat the devil, in order to unite 
spiritual jDersons together, alwaj's makes use of the pretext of 
virtue, that, being mutuall}^ affected by these virtues, the pas- 
sion ma}' pass from their virtues over to their persons. Hence, 
says St. Augustin, according to St. Thomas, confessors, in hearing 
the confessions of spiritual women, ought to be brief and rigid; 
neither are they the less to be guarded against on account of 
their being holy; for the more holy they are, the more they 
attract.' And, he adds, 'that such j^ersons are not aware that 
the devil does not, at first, lance his poisoned arrows, but 
those only which touch but lightly, and thereby increase the 
affection. Hence, it happens, that such persons do not conduct 
themselves as they did at first, like angels, but as if they were 
clothed with flesh. But, on the contrary, they mutually eye 
one another, and their minds are captivated by the soft and 
tender expressions which pass between them, and which still 
seem to them to proceed from the first fervors of their devo- 
tion ; hence they soon begin to long for each other's company ; 
and thus, he concludes, 'the spiritual devotion is converted into 
carnal. And, indeed, O, how many priests, who before were in- 



CLERICAL SEDUCTION, HOW CONCEALED. 105 

nocent, have, on account of these attractions, winch begin in 
the Ljpirit, lost both God and their soul!' (Liguori, 'N. 119.) 

"Moreover, the confessor ought not to be so fond of hear- 
ing the confessions of women, as to be induced thereby to 
refuse to hear the confessions of men. O, how wretched it is 
to see so many confessors, who spend the greater part of the 
day in hearing the confessions of certain religious women, who 
are called Bizocas (a kind of secular nun), and when they after- 
wards see men or married women coming to confession to 
them, overwhelmed in the cares and troubles of life, and who 
can hardly spare time to leave their homes, or business, how 
wretched it is to see these confessors dismiss them, saying, '/ 
have Something else to attend to; go to some other confessor ;'' hence 
it happens, that, not finding an}^ other confessor to whom to 
confess, they live during months afid years without sacraments, 
and without God." (K 120.) 

It is evident that but little regard is at present given 
to these instructions. Priests are not deterred by dark- 
ness from hearing confessions. The obligations of se- 
crecy, the obscurity of the confessionals, the closed doors, 
the whispering, and especially the corrupting nature of 
the communications, all declare that the greater the dark- 
ness the more fervent the devotions of the confessor. 
The great and infallible teacher said, "Men have 
loved darkness rather than light; because their deeds 
were evil." 

The whole instruction indicates that, while the priest 
in the confessional is pretending to act the part of God, 
and forgive sins, he is really a creature of burning lust. 
It also shows how much more devout the priests are in 
hearing the confession of Avomen than men, and the 
confession of nuns and young women than the married. 
These facts from the pen of a saint in the Church, with 



106 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

the indorsement of popes and bishops, speak in accents 

of thunder to Protestants, Beware of the confessional, 

because of the affected superior sanctity of priests and 

nuns ! We, about two years since, heard Father Gar- 

esche, of St. Louis, the distinguished Jesuit priest and 

lecturer, eulogize the nuns, Avhom he said, " went to con- 
fession exevy week." He said, " Look at them as they 

walk the streets, Jis pure as the driven snow." We 
thought that, with equal propriety, an old Pharisee 
might have leaned lovingly against a whited sepulcher, 
and exclaimed. What a beautiful and pure vault is this ; 
no dead men's bones here ! Here Father Geresche 
waxed warm in his affected zeal, and said, in substance, 
and we believe in exact words, " If any man should say 
to me that there is any thing obscene in Auricular Con- 
fession, clergyman as I am, I would knock his teeth 
down his throat." On the next day we inserted in the 
Bloomington Journal the folloAving : 

"A CHALLENGE. 

" Father Garesche : Sir — Since you have appeared before 
the citizens of Bloomington as a champion of Romanism, 
which claims for its adhei-ents exclusive salvation through ' Au- 
ricular Confession ' and the ' Power of the Keys,' and since, 
on last night, you publicly declared and endeavored to prove 
that God had appointed the Roman clergy 'Vicegerents' and 
' Yicars of Jesus Christ,' with power to ' forgive and retain 
sins,' and since you made a denunciatory effort to conceal the 
horrible obscenities of the confessional, you will permit me re- 
spectfully to discard your denunciations, deny. your arrogant 
assumptions, and hereby challenge you to prove that the doc- 
trine of Auricular Confession as taught in the Roman Catholic 
Churchy is accordant with reason and the Bible. The discussion 



CLERICAL SEDUCTION, HOW CONCEALED. 107 

to be in the prcscDce of men only, under stipulated rules, and 
at such time and place as shall be mutually adjusted. And, 
inasmuch as the dogma to be discussed is one of the main pil- 
lars ot' your creed, without which your absolution is a blas- 
phemous, ecclesiastical farce, I shall expect an early and favor- 
ably reply. As to your terrible threat that you ' would knock 
a man's teeth down his throat who said that there was any 
thing obscene in Auricular Confession,' I take the risk, and 
hereby give you due notice that I not only say it, but I am 
prepared to prove that horrible obscenity is authorized in the con- 
fessional, and horrible crimes have been sanctioned by it, and 
that the Roman clergy are authorized to perjure themselves to 
conceal the abominations. My present address is St. Nicholas 
Hotel, Bloomington, 111. Respectfully, 

J. Gr White, 
Minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
January 8, 1873. 

Obtuse as are the perceptions of parish priests, we 
thought that Father Garesche would understand the 
above ; but he preferred to continue to whisper in the 
ears of females his chaste theology, about "De usu 
conjugii," " De luxuria," and kindred subjects. We fol- 
lowed him with lectures, and defiantly challenged him to 
discussion, but our teeth sustained no damage. We 
desired to meet him in the presence of men alone, where 
we might, with propriety, quote from his. approved the- 
ology. The fact is, the subject will not admit thorough 
investigation, except in presence of men of mature age. 
How long shall slumbering Protestants wink at the 
abominations of the confessional, and permit bachelor 
priests and their licentious theology to corrupt society ? 
Will not the just indignation of outraged society demand 
legal enactments to suppress the confessional in common 



108 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

with brothels, to which it is so nearly allied, and to 
which it so largely contributes ? Let facts be generally 
understood and outraged virture Avill demand the sup- 
pression of the confessional and professed sacerdotal 
celibacy, as prolific sources of licentiousness. 



COBBUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 109 



CHAPTER X. 
CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 

"DEFORE Auricular Confession was established by 
-*^ canon law the Church of Rome was notoriously cor- 
rupt. Ambition, usurpation, and avarice exerted their 
legitimate influence ; and under the influence of Auricular 
Confession she has continued to fall more deeply into 
the abyss of corrupting error. An examination of the 
lives of the popes presents a record of crime and scandal 
scarcely paralleled in the history of pagan Rome, and 
sufficient to fill every mind with horror and disgust. 

Roman historians are compelled to admit the dis- 
graceful corruption of many of the popes through whom 
they claim an "unbroken, holy, apostolic succession." 

A few facts from history may exhibit links in this 
chain of infallibility. Boniface VIII, Calixtus III, John 
XIII, and Boniface IX were notoriously covetous. Ben- 
edict XII, Adrian IV, Celestine III, Innocent IV, Alex- 
ander III, Gregory XIII, Clement V, VI, and VII, Bon- 
iface VIII, Paul II, John XXIII, and numerous other 
popes, w^ere proud as Satan, which is but one character- 
istic of all the popes. Sylvester III, and all his succes- 
sors for nine or ten popes, Avere professed conjurers. Li- 
centiousness has been a distinguishing characteristic of 



110 A UBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

the popes — their number too numerous, and their crimes 
too abominable to mention. 

John XII, Gregory Y, John XIII, Boniface VII, 
Benedict IX, Innocent III, were murderers. Many 
popes were instigators of jealousies and discord which 
cost the lives of thousands. 

Several popes have been schismatics, two and three 
contending for the supremacy at the same time. These 
schisms varied from two to six, seven, thirteen, sixteen, 
twenty, and to thirty-nine years; and, during these 
periods of ecclesiastical strife, popes cursed each other 
and fought against each other, while multitudes were 
slaughtered by their cruel ambition. The base and licen- 
tious popes, John X, XI, and XII,' were golden links in 
the apostolic chain of Homish succession. And, if suprem- 
acy necessarily implies infallibility, i\iQ prostitutes, Maro- 
sia, Theodora, and the Countess of Tuscany, might each 
set up a phiusible claim, as they held at pleasure, for a 
time, the patrimony of St. Peter. 

Barronius, the great Roman historian, declares that 
Pope John XI was "« monster of iniquity T that Pope 
John XII was "a gambler, a whoremonger, seducer. Sab- 
bath-breaker, bloodthirsty, and a man capable of all in- 
iquities, and that he died in the midst of debauchery." 

These facts are attested by the writings of numerous 
Roman historians. 

St. Liguori admits that "many priests have lost both 
God and their own souls, by hearing the confession of 
women, and holding communications with them." 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. Ill 

The following facts, from the pen of Rev. Joseph 
Reeve, a distinguished historian of the Roman Church, 
may exhibit a few links of the holy, unbroken suc- 
cession through which the Roman clergy profess to 
receive power to forgive sins, and from whose sacred 
treasure of surplus righteousness they dispense indul- 
gences. He says: 

*' Italy, from the end of the ninth century, as we have seen, 
was become the seat of faction and civil discord. The ecclesi- 
astical state was kept in a long and disgraceful servitude by 
the ambition of rival senators, by the Marquises of Tuscan}^, 
and the Earls of Tusculum. By these petty tyrants, the patri- 
mony of St. Peter was torn to pieces, and sacrilegiously usurped. 
The popes were not masters of their own capital. Eaised by 
faction, as it happened, or by intrigue, they lost their personal 
respectability, were often insulted, imprisoned, and even mur- 
dered, b}' the prevailing part3\ 

*'Tvvo sisters, prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora, daughters 
of the lewd Marchioness of Tuscany, governed Eome by their 
political influence and criminal intrigues. To these disorders 
the popes themselves contributed in no small degree. After 
Stei^hen lY, who died in 891, succeeded Formosus, Steji^hen 
YII, Eomanus, Theodore II, John IX, Benedict lY, Leo Y, 
Christopherus, Sergis III, Anastasious III, Lando, John X, 
Leo YI, Stephen YIII, John XI, Leo YII, Stephen IX, Mar- 
tinus II, Agapitus II, John XII, Leo YIII, Benedict Y, John 
XIII, Benedict YI, Bonus II, Benedict YII, John XIY, Boni- 
face YII, John XY, Gregory Y, Sylvester II. 

"Between the years 891 and 999, here are one and thirty 
popes. Their number is a clear proof that the reign of many 
of them was short, and their end dishonorable. Sergis III ex- 
hibited a spectacle of scandal of which the Christian world 
had never known an example, a sovereign pontiff clasped in 
the embraces of a notorious prostitute. Sergis III, without 
regard for the dignity or the holiness of his pontifical charac- 
ter, publicly avowed his criminal connection with Marozia. 
By her he had a son, who, under his mother's influence, crept 



112 A UBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

afterward into St. Peter's chair, by the name of Jolm XI. To 
the infamj' of his spurious birtii he added personal vice, in 
which he was shamefiili}' imitated by many who, in tluxt cent- 
ury, were raised to the papal throne without the virtues to 
merit or support their elevation." (Reeve's Ch. Hist., p. 291.) 

Here are specimens of Romish infallibility. Here 
are works of supererogation, Avith a vengeance. A viler 
set of whoremongers and drunkards Avere, probably, never 
congregated this side of hell; and yet these drunken, 
debjiuched, shameless beasts, in the form of men, were 
at the head of the Romish sect, which professed infalli- 
bility, and pretended to perform superabundant good 
works. 

Again, Reeve says, pages 315, 316: 

"Simony and incontinence had struck deep root among the 
clergy of Eni^land, Ital}', Germany, and France. [A. D. 1074.] 
The evil began under those unw^orthj' ])opes who so shamefully 
disgraced the tiara by their immoral conduct in the tenth 
century. The scandal spread, and had now continued so long 
that the inferior clergy pleaded custom for their irregularities. 
Many of the bishops were equally unfaithful to their vows, and 
with greater guilt. Hence the corrupt laity, being under no 
apprehension of reproof from men as deei:)ly immersed in vice 
as they, gave free scope to their passions." 

Here is a specimen of Romish' virtue and holiness, 
when popes were in power, when kings and emperors 
bowed their necks to ecclesiastical dictators, and vile 
prostitutes and their pontifical paramours reveled in gross 
licentiousness. 

These were the palmy days of papal Rome, the sa- 
cred memory of which she now cherishes, and for the 
return of which her energies are concentrated, and her 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 113 

priests and nuns pi'ay most devoutly. These were the 
triumphal days of the mother of harlots. May they 
never return to curse the world! 

In that darkest period of the world's history, when 
licentiousness overwhelmed the Romish sect, including 
bishops and popes, the doctrine of Auricular Confes- 
sion, and other kindred heresies, were projected by 
the clergy, and accepted by ignorant dupes of papal 
despotism. 

Truth promotes intelligence and virtue. Auricular 
Confession is the offspring of Popery, and a prolific 
source of ignorance and vice. 

The Bible teaches that God alone can forgive sins. 
The doctrine of Auricular Confession is predicated on the 
blasphemous assumption that any priest, bishop, or pope 
can forgive sins. 

God proclaims pardon on the condition of faith, with- 
out money or price. 

The Roman clergy offer pardon on condition of pen- 
ance with both money and price. 

God declares that he blots out transgressions, and re- 
remembers iniquities no more. 

The Romish clergy say sins may be pardoned, but 
must afterward be purged in purgatory, if not commuted 
by indulgences. . 

The Lord said, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in 
man, and maketh flesh his arm." 

The Romish clergy say the man shall be blessed who 
trusteth in thejn and the merits of saints. 



114 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

The Lord said : 

" Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or the 
likeness of of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in 
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth : 

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." 
(Exodus XX, 3-5.) 

The Roman clergy say you shall make images and 
pictures, and bow down before them ; you shall worship 
Gods made of bread, wine, .and wax; you shall wear 
scapulars, repeat prayers of beads, kiss medals, and above 
all, pray devoutly to the Virgin Mary, and by so doing, 
you will obtain indulgences, escape purgatory, contribute 
to the treasur?/ of the Church, and be infallibly sure of 
heaven. Thus the Word of God and the Romish clergy 
contradict each other. 

Let God be true, and the doctrine of Auricular Con- 
fession a lie. 

"A strange belief that leaned its idiot back 
On folly's topmost twig — 
A lazy, corpulent. 

And ever credulous faith, that 
Stepped on, but never earnestly inquired 
"Whether to heaven or hell the journey led." 



CORItUPTIOy OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 115 



CHAPTER XL 

CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL, CONTINUED. 

T)EY. JOSEPH BLANCO WHITE, once a distinguished 
■*" priest in Spain, and subsequently a clergyman of the 
Church of England, bears his testimony to the gross and 
revolting licentiousness of the Spanish clergy. (See 
Practical and Internal Evidences against Catholicism.) 

This work, of two hundred and eighty-four pages, 
discloses the inner life of priests and nuns in convents 
and monasteries, and the corrupting influence of the con- 
fessional on the minds of youth and females. It also 
exhibits, to an alarming extent, the power of the confes- 
sional to enslave men, and sustain a corrupt ecclesiastical 
despotism. The author exposes the criminal character 
of the clergy of Spain, and declares that, in their bac- 
chanalian orgies, they often, with jest and ribaldry, dis- 
close the obscene communications of the confessional, 
and boast of the number of children born unto them 
within a ''few daf/s" by their concubines. On account 
of the indelicacy of the subject, he acknowledged his 
inability to present the facts in a work published for the 
general reader. 

On pages 111 and 112, he says of the priests : 

''I have known the best among tliem; I have heard their 
confessions; I have heard the confessions of young persons of 



116 AURICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

both sexes, who fell under the influence of their sucrcestions 
and example; and I do declare that notliing can bo more dan- 
gerous to youthful virtue than their company. 

"How many souls would have been saved from crime, but 
for their vain display of pretended superior virtue,' which 
Eome demands of her elerg}*. 

"The cares of married life, it is said, interfere with the 
duties of the clergy. Do not the cai-es of a vicious life, the 
anxieties of stolen love, the contrivances of adulterous inter- 
course, the pains, the jealousies, the remorse, to a conduct in 
perfect contradiction with a public and solemn profession of 
virtue — do not these cares, these bitter feelings, interfere with 
the duties of the priesthood?" 

Thus writes a man of culture, Avho once stood high 
in the estimation of the Roman clergy, and for many 
years had personal knowledge of the practical results of 
Auricular Confession. He draws aside the curtain, and 
discloses the hidden mysteries of convent life in relation 
to the clergy and the confessional. 

He says, on page 112 : 

"The picture of female convents requires a more delicate 
pencil; yet I can not find tints sufficiently dark and gloom}' to 
portray the miseries which I have witnessed in their inmates. 
Crime, indeed, makes its way into those recesses, in spite of the 
spiked walls and prison gates which protect the inhabitants. 
This I know, with all the certainty which the self-accusation 
of guilt can give." 

He further shows, what ought to be known to every 
American citizen, that nuns are slaves to their ecclesias- 
tical superiors. That the Council of Trent enjoins on 
all bishops to enforce the close confinement of nuns by 
every means, and even to engage the assistance of the 
secular arm for that purpose, and entreats all princes to 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 117 

protect the inclosure of the convents; and threatens ex- 
communication on all civil magistrates who withhold 
their aid when the bishops call for it. 
The Council of Trent says : 

"Let no professed mm come out of her monastery under 
any pretext whatever, not even for a moment." 

"If any of the regulars [men or women under perpetual 
vows] pretend that fear or force compelled them to enter the 
cloister, or that the profession took place before the appointed 
age, let theni not be heard, except within five years of their 
profession. But if they put off the frock of their own accord, 
no allegation of such should be heard: but, being compelled to 
return to the convent, they must he punished as apostates, being, 
in the mean time, deprived of all the privileges of their order." 

In the cases of Milly M'Pherson, of Kentucky, and 
Barbara Rjibrick, of Craco, Austria, we have illustra- 
tions of the Christian punishment of nuns who violate 
convent rules, or refuse to submit to the dictation 
and seduction of their father confessors. It is evident 
that the former went to a premature grave by the hand 
of an assassin, or to a prison from which she has 
not escaped, and the latter to a dungeon twenty-one 
years, and after suffering, mentally and physically, more 
than a thousand deaths, she was rescued by the civil 
authorities, and survived long enough to recite her story 
of woe. According to their statements they were pun- 
ished because they refused to prostitute themselves in 
complyance with the wishes of licentious priests. The 
records of the court at Bardstown, Kentucky, disclose 
the facts in the case of Milly M'Pherson. Rev. N. L, 



118 A UEICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Rice published the results of a malicious prosecution on 
the part of priest Elder and others, which was only the 
dodge of a Jesuit cuttle-fish to divert attention from the 
guilty party, and save the character of the convent. The 
report was of a nature to damnge an innocent priest and 
a pure institution of learning. In this case the jury es- 
timated the damnge at " one cent" and doubtless they 
took into the account the fact that some men and insti- 
tutions are not susceptible of being slandered, their cor- 
ruption is so notorious. 

The acknowledged ability and veracity of Dr. Hice 
gives weight to all he says and does, and the fact of only 
"o,w^ cent" damage assessed, and under special instruc- 
tion, is conclusive evidence that the jury understood the 
facts, and, as they certify, w^ould have returned a verdict 
for the defendant but for the instruction of the Judge. 
The damaging fact is, that more than thirty-five years 
have passed away, and Milly M'Pherson has not been 
found. The fact that the Homan clergy did not produce 
her in court in order to gain their ten thousand dollars, 
is evidence conclusive that they could not. Men Avho 
perform foetal baptisms and sell indulgences, would not 
knowingly neglect such a (/olden harvest. 

Doubtless Milly M'Pherson has long since gone for- 
ever beyond the corrupting influences of the confessional 
and convent. 

The Italian patriot Gavazzi says : 

" The latest efforts of confessors are against civil and religi- 
ous freedom. . . . Eemember my words, and may they be 



COBBUrTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 119 

profitable ! We have in Italy (and their mystical operation 
extends all over the world) three bulls, of three different popes, 
Pius VII, Leo XII, and Gregory XVI, obliging all penitents 
to discover all among their relatives who are adherents to the 
liberal cause. Thus all names of all patriots are known to the 
authorities of the Church; so that in my Italy such a control 
over one heart (generally a female one) implicates man}- in the 
mesh. Sisters betray their brothers, waves their husbands, and 
— what is horrible to say, what is ngainst the law of nature, 
what is possible only in the cruel system of Home — mothers are 
obliged to accuse their poor children ! We have in Italj- not 
one, but hundreds of thousands of brothers, husbands, and 
sons, 5'oung men, condemned to the galleys, exile, the scaffold, 
onl}^ in order that their sisters, wives, and mothers can receive 
sacramental absolution from the priests. You will perhaps say: 
that does not touch us — such kind of perfidy never will ap- 
proach American shores; Americans, Americans, you mistake 
Popery! Here she must be in disguise; but in her heart ske 
is always Popery. And secretly she will do in America what 
openlj^ in Italy. She can not be better in her nature because 
Americanized. If you do not know the sj'stem, hear for youi; 
benefit what it is abroad, in order to save from its snares j'our 
dear country. In the short but glorious period of our Eoman 
Bepublic (Americans! hear an Italian), we found in the palace 
of the Inquisition at Eome a large book, with the correspond- 
ence of all the bishops throughout the Christian world, in which 
correspondence we found the names of all patriots, leaders of 
liberals, among all nations, not only Italians, but Frenchmen, 
Spaniards, Portuguese, Americans, Mexicans, all diligently col- 
lected, and sent from the bishops. of all the Christian world to 
the Inquisition of Rome. This is Auricular Confession!" (Ga- 
vazzi's Lectures, pages 242, 243, and 244.) 

Those who have not read Gavazzi's lectures would 
do well to read them with special reference to the con- 
fessional and the corrupting influence of the clergy 
through the confessional. 



120 A uriculAr confession exposed. 

TESTIMONY OF AN EYE-WITNESS. 

The Rev. L. Giustiniani, D. D., once a priest in 
Home, afterward a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, published a work in 1843, entitled "Papal Rome 
as it Is. By a Romanr It is worthy of being read by 
every American citizen. The Doctor having resided in 
the city of Rome itself, the very "seat of the beast," 
and who was therefore perfectly acquainted with the 
practical operation of Auricular Confession, gives numer- 
ous illustrations of its corrupting influence from personal 
observation, two of which we here present. 

The first is in reference to a young lady of about 

seventeen years old, in the family where the Doctor was 

boarding. He says : 

" One day the mother told her daughter to prepare to go 
with her to-morrow to confess and to commune. The mother, 
unfortunately, feeling unwell the next mornirjg, the 3'ounglady 
had to go by herself; when she returned, her eyes showed that 
she had wept, and her countenance indicated that something 
unusual had happened. The mother, as a matter of course, in- 
quired the cause, but she wept bitterl}', and said she was 
ashamed to tell it. Then the mother insisted; so the daughter 
told her that the parish priest, to whom she constantly con- 
fessed, asked her questions this time which she could not re- 
peat without a blush. She, however, repeated some of them, 
which were of the most licentious and corrupting tendency — 
which were better suited to the lowest sink of debauchery 
than the confessional. Then he gave her some instructions 
which decenc}^ forbids me to repeat; gave her absolution, and 
told her, before she communed, she must come into his house, 
which was contiguous to the church ; the unsuspecting young 
creature did as the father confessor told her. The rest, the 
reader can imagine. The parents, furious, would immediately 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 121 

have gone to the archbishop, atid laid before him the com- 
plaint; but I advised them to let it be as it was, because they 
would injure the character of their daughter more than the 
priest. All the punishment he would have received, is a sus- 
pension for a month or two, and then be placed in another 
parish, or even remain where he is. With such brutal acts, 
the history of the confessional is full." (Pa^^al Eome as it Is, 
pages 83 and 84.) 

The other illustration is in reference to the manner 
of confessing sick penitents in their bed chambers in 
the city of Rome. On pages 188 and 189 the Doctor 
says : 

"Only go to Eome and you will see the indisposed fair peni- 
tent remain in her bed, and the Franciscan friar, leaving his 
sandals before the door of lier bed-chamber, as an indication 
that he is performing some ecclesiastical act, then none, not 
even the husband, can enter the chamber of his wife, until the 
Franciscan friar has finished his business and leaves the cham- 
ber; then the husband, with reverence, ready waiting at the 
door, kisses the hand of the father Franciscan for his kindness 
for having administered spiritual comfort to his wife, and very 
often he gives him a dollar to say a mass for his indisposed 
spouse. . . . 

"But why shall I speak of the moral corruption of Popery 
in Rome? It is everywhere the same; it appears differently, 
but never changes its character. In America, where female 
virtue is the characteristic of the nation — the onl}'' stronghold 
of the American Republic — it is under the control of the priest. 
If a Roman Catholic lady, the wife of a free American, should 
choose to have the priest in her bed-room, she has only to 
pretend to be indisposed, and asking for the spiritual father, 
the confessor, no other person, not even the husband, dare 
enter. In Rome it would be at the risk of his life; in Amer- 
ica, at the risk of being excommunicated, and deprived of 
all spiritual privileges of the Church, and even excluded from 
heaven." 



122 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

A celebrated orator in the Council of Trent, Father 
Antonius Pagannes, is reported to have said : 

"I am silent respecting adulteries, rapes, and robberies; I 
pass over the great effusion of Christian blood, unhiwful exac- 
tions, impositions gratuitously accumulated, and for whatever 
cause tlicy were introduced, persevered in without cause, and 
the innumerable oppressions of this kind; I pass over tiie proud 
pomp of clothing, extraordinary expenses beyond the require- 
ments of their station in life, drunkenness, surfeits, and the 
inordinate filthiness of luxury, such as never took place before. 
Women were never less modest and bashful ; young men were 
never more unbridled and undisciplined ; the old were never 
more irreligious and foolish ; in fine, never was there in any 
person less fear of God, honor, virtue, and modesty ; and never 
did carnal licentiousness, abuse, and irregularity prevail to 
such an extent. For what greater abuse and irregularity can 
be imagined than a pastor without watchfulness, a preacher 
without works, a judge without equity-, a lawyer without 
honesty, a magistrate without decorum, laws without observ- 
ance, a i:)eople without obedience, religious professors without 
devotion, the rich without shame, the poor without humility, 
women without j^urity, the young' without discipline, the old 
without prudence, and every Christian xcithout religion T 

Such is the picture of unrestrained Popery, as drawn 
by one of its friends at the Council of Trent, and such 
are its characteristic influences every-where, and in 
all ages. 

E-ev. John Dowling, D. D., a distinguished Baptist 
clergyman of New York, writing on Auricular Con- 
fession, says : 

"A single fact will be sufficient to show the awful extent, in 
Popish countries, of this crime of illicit intercourse with females 
at confession. About 1560, a bull was issued b}'- Pope Pius lY, 
directing the Inquisition to inquire into the prevalence of this 
crime, which begins as follows : ' Whereas, certain ecclesiastics 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 123 

in the kingdom of Spain, and in the cities and dioceses thereof, 
having the cure of souls, or exercising such cure for others, or 
otherwise deputed to hear the confessions of penitents, have 
broken out into such heinous acts of iniquity as to abuse the 
sacrament of j)enance in the very act of hearing the confes- 
sions, nor fearing to injure the same sacrament, and him who 
instituted it, our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, by en- 
ticing and provoking, or trying to entice and provoke^ females to 
lewd actions, at the very time when they were making their 
confessions,' etc. 

" Upon the publication of this bull in Spain, the Inquisition 
issued an edict requiring all females who had been thus abused 
by the priests at the confessional, and all who were privy to 
such acts, to give information, within thirty da^^s, to the holy 
tribunal; and very heavy censures were attached to those who 
should neglect or des2)ise this injunction. When this edict was 
first published, such a considerable number of females went to 
the palace of the inquisitor, in the single city of Seville, to 
reveal the conduct of their infamous confessors, that twenty 
notaries, and as many inquisitors, were appointed to minute 
down their several informations against them; but these being 
found insufficient to receive the depositions of so many witnesses, 
and the inquisitors being thus overwhelmed, as it were, with 
the pressure of such affairs, thirty days more were allowed for 
taking the accusations; hnd this lapse of time also proving in- 
adequate to the intended purpose, a similar period was granted 
not only. for a third but a fourth time. Maids and matrons, of 
every rank and station, crowded to the Iniquisition. Modesty, 
shame, and a desire of concealing the facts from their hus- 
bands, induced many to go veiled. But the multitude of 
depositions, and the odium which the discovery threw on 
Auricular Confession and the Popish priesthood, caused the 
Inquisition to quash the prosecutions, and to consign the 
depositions to oblivion." (See Dowling's History of Eomanism, 
pp. 335, 3^6.) 

We extract the following from pages 166, 167, of 
'^Romanism not Christianity," by Rev. N. L. Rice, 
D. D., a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian 



124 . AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

Church, whose intelligence and veracity may not be 
questioned : 

"I beg leave here, also, to adduce tlie testimon}" of Waddy 
Thompson, Esq, late Minister Plenipotentiary of the United 
States at Mexico, concerning the character of the clergy of that 
coiintrj'. He is a gentleman of intelligence and standing, not 
a member, I believe, of any Church, and not chargeable, so far 
as I know, with any prejudice against the Boman clergy. 
He sa3's : 

"*I do not think that the clergy of Mexico, with verj' few 
exceptions, are men of as much learning as the Catholic clergy 
generally in other countries. The lower orders of priests and 
friars are generally entirely uneducated, and, I rfe^ret to add, 
as generally licentious. There is no night in the year that the 
most revolting spectacles of vice and immorality on the part 
of the priests and friars, are not to be seen in the streets of 
Mexico. I have never seen any class of men who so generally 
have such a roue appearance as the priests and friars whom 
one constantly meets in the streets. Of the higher orders and 
more respectable members of the priesthood, I can not speak 
with the same confidence; if they are vicious, the}^ are not 
publicly and indecently so. Yery many of them have several 
nephews and nieces in their houses, or, at least, those who call 
them uncle. The reason given for the injunction of celibacy, 
that those who are dedicated to the priesthood should not bo 
encumbered with the care of a family, is, I think, in Mexico, 
much more theoretical than practical.' " 

Dr. Rice adds: 

"Such is the character of the priesthood in Eoman coun- 
tries; and I have in preceding lectures proved, even by Roman 
writers, that in former times even the popes were fjir more im- 
moral than Thompson represents the clergy of Mexico. Are 
those of the United States much better? There is a public 
sentiment in our Protestant country that compels them to walk 
circumsi^ectly; but the facilities for secret vice, afforded by the 
confessional and nunneries, are such that they can not be easily 
detected. Many of them, moreover, are foreigners, whose 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 125 

characters have been formed in Eoman countries, where the 
clergy arc generally of loose morals; and they certainly have 
the appearance, generally, of men not given to a great deal 
of abstinence — men who give no evidence of extraordinary 
sanctity." 

Will any sane man pretend that Rev. Joseph Blanco 
"White, Rev. N. L. Rice, D. D., ex-Minister Thompson, 
the Italian statesman Gavazzi, and others, are narrow- 
minded bigots or illiterate men? It is not enough for 
the Romish clergy to fall back upon their assumed dig- 
nity, and pronounce all a Protestant slander. The facts 
are before the Avorld, and they challenge investigation. 

Rev. Edward Beecher says : 

"I ask your particular attention to the pernicious influence 
of Romanism on the morals of community in this respect, 
that you may learn to what a depth of immorality and vice 
this country would be plunged if Popery should prevail. ^By 
the returns laid before Parliament, it appears that in London 
the proportion of illegitimate births is four per cent; in Paris, 
it is thirty-three; in Brussels, thirty-six; in Munich, twenty- 
five; in Vienna, fifty-one per cent. The amount of immorality 
thus manifested is a hundred-fold greater in some Romish parts 
of Europe than in any part of Protestant England. In Eome, 
the city of j)opes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, 
monks, and nuns, they dare not make returns. ) But one fact 
speaks for itself. The number of births in Rome, by Dr. 
Bowring's returns, is four thousand three hundred and odd per 
annum; and, by the returns of Mittermej^er, the number of 
foundlings in the different foundling institutions in Rome, dur- 
ing a period of ten years, gives a return of three thousand one 
hundred and sixty per annum. Hobart Seymour, from whom 
I take these statistics, says: 'All this certainly speaks very 
strongly of the immorality of Rome, or declares that if the 
mothers be married mothers they are the most unnatural 
mothers in the world.' 

"An examination by Mr. Seymour of the official and 



126 A URICULAJR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Governmental returns of every Eoman Catholic country in 
Europe, in fifteen or twenty folio volumes, enabled him to 
say that Popery is universally the mother of vice and 
crime. Thus, in Enghind tlie ratio of murders, during ten 
years, was four to a million ; during the same time, in Ireland, 
it was fort^-five to a million per annum, and in the most fa- 
vorable years never less than nineteen to a million. In Bel- 
gium, one of 'the best Romish countries, the murders are 
eighteen to a million ; in France, thirty-one to a million ; in 
Austria, the great pillar of Popery, thirty-six to a million; in 
Bavaria, a Il(jmish state, including homicides, sixty-eight per- 
sons to a million — excluding liomicidcs, thirt}^ to a million; in 
Italy, in the Venetian and Milanese provinces, forty-five to a 
million; in Tuscan}', forty-two to a million; in the States of 
the Pope, one hundred to a million ; in Sicily, ninety'- to a 
million; in Naples, doubly cursed by Poperj^ and the most un- 
mitigable Popish civil despotism, two hundred to a million. 
The averjjge of all these Papal nations is seventy-five to a 
million. 'In Ital}',' saj^s Seymour, 'the land of popes, cardi- 
nals, bishops, priests, monks, and nuns, there i^ perpetrated 
such an amount of murder that the number of persons killed 
every year in cold blood is greater than the number of men 
that have fallen in some of the most terrific struggles on the 
modern battle-fields of Europe." (Papal Consj^iracy Exposed, 
by Beech er.) 

According to the above returns laid before the British 
Parliament, about three-fourths of all the children born 
in IToI^ Rome — the mother of harlots — are foundlings. 
Their mothers are not known, much less their fathers. 
In this Protestant country, where the people are not yet 
prepared for a national tax to sustain ''foundling institu- 
tions^' the nondescripts may find a home with the 
"sisters" and "fathers," where, if history be true, many 
of them legitimately belong. 

These are but specimens, and are corroborated by all 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 127 

unprejudiced minds who have thoroughly investigated 
the subject. On account of the apathy or criminal in- 
indifFerence on this subject of many Protestants in 
America, we give additional facts. 

William Hogan, Esq., formerly a Roman priest, from 
Ireland, published ''A. Synopsis of Popery as it was and 
as it is," in 1849, at Hartford, Connecticut. He certifies 
that he left Ireland, and ultimately the Romish Church, 
on account of the corruption of the clergy relative to 
females in the confessional and the convent. He dis- 
closes seduction, infanticide, and murder, in their most 
horrid forms. He gives times, places, and circum- 
stances, and which, if not true, would have subjected 
him to the severest penalties ; and the fact that he was 
not prosecuted for slander by the priests implicated, is 
evidence that they dare not attempt to disprove the facts. 
He speaks of the confessional, and denominates it a 
'^ woman-trap,'' and "nunneries" — modestly called — ^''are 
Popish brothels." This language is strong, but fully 
sustained by the horrible disclosures he makes. The 
work, to be appreciated, should be carefully read ; and, 
since it can only be had by few, we will quote from it 
more fullv. 

When discussing Auricular Confession and Popish 
nunneries, he says : 

"Every crime, as I have stated before, which the Eomish 
Church sanctions, and almost all the immoralities of its mem- 
bers, either originate in, or have some connection with, 
Auricular Confession." (p. 15.) 



128 AUBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Among the influences which cause Mm to renounce 
Romanism he enumerates the ruin and early death of 
innocent and virtuous girls through the confessional and 
convent. Many of the daughters of Protestant parents, 
proselyted through the female Jesuits of the nunnery, se- 
duced by their confessors, and poisoned or otherwise dis- 
posed of to prevent scandal. lie speaks from personal 
observation and from a knowledge of the facts through 
the confessional. While he was a priest and had knowl- 
edge of the facts, his lips were closed by his obligation 
of eternal secrecy. He solemnly w^arns American Prot- 
estant mothers iigainst the folly and danger of intrusting 
their innocent daughters to the seductive influence of the 
" semi-reverend crones called nuns." He says : 

"Every confessor has a concubine, and there are very few 
of them who luive not several. Every nun has a confessor. 
. . . There is scarcely one of them who has not been herself 
debauched by her confessor.'' 

This is strong language, but the man who used it had 
officiated as a priest in the confessional on both conti- 
nents, and had himself often heard the confession of 
nuns. Again, on page 28, Mr. Hogan says : 

" The mother abbess, or superior of the convent, Avho in- 
variably is the deepest in sin of the whole, and who, from her 
age and long practice, is almost constitutionally a hj'pocrite, 
appears in public the most vieek, the most bland, the most cour- 
teous, and the most humble Christian. She is peculiarly atten- 
tive to those who have any money in their own right; she 
tells them they are beautiful, fascinating, that they look like 
angels, that this world is not a fit residence for them, that they 
are too good for it, that the}" ought to become nuns in order to 
fit them for a higher and better station in heaven. Nothing 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 129 

more is necessaiy than to become a Roman Catholic and go to 
confession. Such is the apparent happiness, cheerfulness, and 
unallo^'ed beatitudes of the nuns, that strangers are pleased 
with them. They invariably make a favorable impression on 
the minds of their visitors." 

Mr. Hogan, after comparing a Roman priest to the 
anaconda, foul, filthy, and ugly, and when he is hungry 
seizes upon an object which he intends to destroy, he 
takes it with him to his place of retreat, and there, un- 
seen, covers his prey with slime, and then devours it. 
He then adds, on pnge 32 : 

"I now declare, most solemnly and sincerely, that after liv- 
ing twenty-five years in full communion with the Roman 
Catholic Church, and officiating as a Romisli ^Driest, hearing 
confessions, and confessing myself, I know not another reptile 
in all animal nature so filthy, so much to be shunned, and 
loathed, and dreaded by females, both married and single, as a 
Roman Catholic priest, or bishop, who practices the degrading 
and demoralizing office of Auricular Confession^ 

Again, Mr. Hogan refers to his labors in Albany, 
New York, where he was kindly received and liberally 
compensated for his labors by the Church, and where he 
was also Chaplain of the Legislature, and gives his per- 
sonal experience in the confessional on pages 46, 47, as 
follows : 

" The Roman Catholics of Albany had, during about two 
years previous to my arrival among them, three Irish priests 
alternately with them, occasionally preaching, but always hear- 
ing confessions. I know the names of these men ; one of them 
is dead, the other two living, and now in full communion in tlie 
Roman Church, still saying mass and hearing confessions. As 
soon as I got settled in Albanj', I had, of course, to attend to 
the duty of Auricular Confession, and in less than two months 
found that those three priests, during the time they were there, 

9 



130 AURICULAE CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

were the fiitbers of between sixty and one liundrcd children, 
besides having debauched many who had left the place iu'evious 
to their confinement. Mnnj' of these children were by married 
women, who were among the most zealous supporlers of those 
vngabond priests, and whose brothers and relatives were ready 
to wade, if necessary, knee deep in blood for the hoi}', immacu- 
late, infallible Church of Borne. There is a circumstance con- 
nected Avith this, that renders the conduct of these priests almost 
frightfully attrocious. There are in many of the Eoman Catho- 
lic churches things, as Michelet properly calls them, liUe sen- 
try-boxes, called confessionals. These are generall}^ situated 
in the bodj' of the church, and priests hear confessions in them, 
though the priest and ladj^ penitent are only separated by a 
sliding board, which can be moved in any direction the con- 
fessor pleases, leaving him and the penitent ear to ear, breath 
to breath, eye to eye, and lip. to lip, if he pleases. There were 
none of these in the Eomish church of Albany, and those priests 
had to hear confession in the sacristy of the church. This is a 
small room back of the altar, in which the eucharist, contain- 
ing, according to the Eomish belief, the real body and blood 
of Jesus Christ is kept while mass is not celebi-ating in the 
chajDel. This room is always fastened by a lock and key of best 
workmanship, and the key ke])t by the priest day and night. 
This sacristy, containing the wafer which the priests blasphem- 
ously adore, was used bj' them as a place to hear confessions, 
and here they committed habitually those acts of immorality 
and crime of which I have spoken. 

** These details must be unpleasant to the reader, but not 
more so than they are to me. I see not, however, any other 
mode in which I can give Americans any thing like a correct 
idea of that state of society which must be expected in this 
country, should the period ever arrive when Popery and Popish 
priests shall be in the ascendant." 

These disgusting details are only admissible in con- 
sideration of the fact that the evil exists in our midst ; 
and Protestants are unconscious of danger, and are 
thereby jeoparding their morality, virtue, and eternal 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 131 

salvation, to gratify the avarice and lust of those who 
are the sworn enemies of civil and religious liberty, and 
who would esteem it a religious duty, if in their power, 
to consign them and their children to the dungeon or the 
Inquisition. 

Mrs. Henrietta Curacciolo, an ex-Benedictine nun, 
has recently published an octavo volume, of nearly five 
hundred pages, entitled, " The Mysteries of Neapolitan 
Convents," with an Introduction by Rev. John Dowling, 
of New York. It fuWy confirms the statement of others 
relative to the corrupting influence of the confessional 
and convent life. It discloses the interesting fact that, 
about the year 1860, the Italian Government passed a. 
law suppressing convents and monastic institutions, and 
precluding the possibility of making any more monks 
and nuns in the Kingdom of Italy. Much of the property 
of monks and nuns has been confiscated, and they are 
allowed a daily stipend for their subsistence during life. 
When these die, there will be no more monasticism in what 
then comprised the Kingdom of Italy. It is said that 
twelve thousand monks, and a large company of nuns, 
are emigrating, chiefly to South America and the South- 
ern States of North America. The leprous spots of Italy 
are developing themselves on the sacred soil of America. 
They are more to be shunned than cholera, palsy, plngue, 
and fever. They rot out the vitals of every nation per- 
manently infected with them. 

Mrs. Edith Auflray, wife of Professor AufFray, is 
striking damaging blows at the corruptions of Popery by 



132 A UETCULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

her "Convent Life Exposed;" also, her telling lectures 
to ladies and gentlemen, and her secret lecture to ladies 
alone. She speaks from personal expei'ience, having 
been educated in the convent near Madison, New Jersey, 
and having taken the veil as a nun, and subsequently 
presided as lady superior over the convent in Hudson 
City, New York, from which she declares she fled for 
her virtue and her life. 

Her book shows that her confessor exhausted his arts 
of attempted seduction, while she in vjiin appealed for 
protection to her ecclesinsticil superiors. She is proba- 
bly one of the most persecuted women on the Continent 
of America. 

Mrs. Auffray is better known by her maiden name, 
"Edith O'Gorman." She united with the North Baptist 
Church, in Jersey City, New Jersey, and ^vas married to 
Professor Auffray by the pastor of that Church. 

Her published stjitements and (as w,e are informed) 
her private lecture to ladies corroborate the testimony 
of others, and especially the secret ritual and theology 
of the clergy. The united testimony of canon laws, 
catechisms, manuals, rituals, the theology of the Church, 
the history of individuals, cities, and nations, in connection 
with the Bible, combine to show that Auricular Confession 
is uiiscriptural, unholy, unreasonable, and an unauthorized 
blasphemous usurpation. It degrades and enslaves the 
people, subserves the sordid interest and lust of ecclesi- 
astical tyrants, destroys domestic happiness, and is a 
blighting curse to the social, civil, and religious institu- 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 133 

tions of any people, city, or nation, in proportion to its 
unrestrained influence. Such a pestilential evil merits 
the everlasting execration of all right-minded persons, 
and the enactment of penal laws for its immediate and 
perpetual suppression. 



134 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER Xn. 

CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL, CONTINUED. 

npHE character of men and systems of religion may be 
-*- determined by their influence and results. The great 
and only infallible Teacher said: "By their fruits ye 
shall know them." This test applies to Romanism with 
damaging results. After a careful examination of the 
preceding pages, it will not be difficult to comprehend 
the fact that Romanism rests as an incubus on all de- 
partments pf society, and that crime and poverty are its 
natural and legitimate results. 

The judicial statistics of Ireland show that larger num- 
bers of the constabulary are required, in proportion to the 
population, in Roman Catholic than in Protestant coun- 
ties. The police statistics are from the census of 1861. 

The population of the County Antrim is 247,564 ; 
the population of Tipperary is about the same number, 
249,106. But while 272 policemen are sufficient to pre- 
serve the peace in Antrim, 1,122, or more than four 
times the number, are required to keep the peace in 
Tipperary. Nearly the same disproportion prevails in 
other counties. Down has but 276 policemen, Avhile 
Gal way, with a smaller population, has 691. Westmeath, 
with a population of 90,879, requires 298 constables, 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 135 

while Londonderry, with a population of 184,209, has 
but 152. Armagh has 33,000 more people than Ilos- 
common, but while the northern county is kept in order 
by 193 constables, the western county requires 410. 
The Belfast News Letter just] y ascribes this difference to 
RELIGION, as wherever the Roman Catholics predominate, 
there the police force is large and costly ; but in every 
county Avhich has a Protestant majority of inhabitants, 
the constabulary force is small and has little to do. Even 
in the distinctively Protestant counties, Homan Catholic 
criminals are in the majority. Thus, while Roman Cath- 
olics are less than one-third of the population of the 
County Antrim, they supply a larger number of prisoners 
than the Protestant two-thirds. The contrast is still 
greater in Londonderry and Fermanagh. The Protest- 
ants of Ireland bear to Roman Catholics the proportion 
of 13 to 45. But Protestant prisoners committed in 
1863 bore to the Roman Catholics the proportion of G to 
45, the total number being 4,391 Protestants, against 
29,263 Roman Catholics. 

The expenses of Popery to the country, through its 
immorality and crime, has been used as an argument Avith 
such telling effect against the polio?/ of Popish endow- 
ments, that the demagogues among the Papists have been 
obliged to resort to measures the most ignoble to blunt 
its force. They have, by their representatives in the 
House of Commons, reported crimes against the Protest- 
ants which were never committed ; and they have per- 
petrated crimes against themselves, in order to charge 



136 



AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



them upon their heretic neighbors. Galway, from 1851 
to 1861, rose, through the operations of Protestant mis- 
sions, from the twenty-fourth to the seventh i)l;ice in 
the scale of morality. Down sank, through Jesuitical 
intrigues, from the first to the fifth place — convictions for 
crime being the basis. 

THE CRUELTY OF KOMANISM. 



1 Protestant and 13 Popish Countries. 



Eiii^lnnd and Wales 
Belgium 



Ireland, 1851, 

Sjirdinia 

France 

Austria 

Tvonibardy 

Tuscany 

Bavaria 

Malta 

Sicily 

Palpal Stales.. 

Naples 

Spain , 



Population. 


Average 

Murders in 

a Year. 


Yearly 
murdt'r.s in 
one milTu. 


17,927,609 
4,347,673 


72 
84 


4 

19 


6,533,579 

4,916,081 

35,400,180 


130 

101 

1089 


19 
24 
30 


30,514,400 
5,047,472 


1325 
225 


36 
44 


1,489,000 
4,520,751 


84 
311 


50 

68 


114,000 


114 


80 


1,930,033 

2,908,115 

6,000,900 

12,380,841 


174 

339 
1045 


90 

113 

' 172 

250 



THE IMMORALITY OF PtOMANISM. 



1 Protestant and 10 Romish Towns. 



London, 1851 

Paris, 1851 

Peripiiijnan, 1845 

Brussels, 1850 

Tours, 1845 

Munich, 1845 

Kodez, 1845 

Geuret, 1845 

Vienna, 1849 

Mont de Marsan, 1845 
Eome, 1845 



Legitimate 
Births. 



76,097 

21,698 

512 

3.448 

582 

1,726 

233 

97 

8,881 

74 

1,213 



Illegitim. 
Births. 



3,203 
10,085 

256 
1,835 

330 
1,702 

243 

115 
10,360 

173 
3,160 



Illegitim. 

B'lhs lolOO 

Legit. Bs. 



4 

49 

50 

53 

56 

98 

104 

108 

116 

179 

260 



COREUPTIO:^ OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 137 

The above startling facts are corroborated by addi- 
tional figures from both continents. The odicinl annual 
report of the Commissioners for Relieving the Poor in 
Ireland show that, on the 23d of March, 1867, the num- 
ber of paupers was 59,141, and 2,659 in excess of the 

number of the same week of 1866. The number of or- 
phans and deserted children out at nurse in January, 

1866, was 475; and 1867, at the same date, was 590. 

The Rev. W. C. Van Meter, a clergyman of the Bap- 
tist Church, now missionary in Rome, was there on a 
tour in 1868, and, in his correspondence to America, 
wrote as follows : 

"EoME, Italy, May 20, 1868. 

"Another weary day has ended, and I sit and review with a 
sad heart the dungeons and cells, etc., visited to-day. The 
very site of the inquisition makes the heart sick, by recalling 
the scenes of wickedness and indescribable cruelty witnessed 
and endured in this place. The political prisons are closed 
nsiially against all, excei:)t the one who unsuccessful Ij^ struggled 
for freedom, and his tormentors. The histories in it will not 
be revealed — except now and then a brief extract — until ' the 

books are opened.' I have conversed with Count , who 

was a judge sixteen yeai-s, but who arose with Garibaldi to 
free Italy, w^as captured by the Austrian s, sent to one of those 
liells used by the Pope, and there endured long, sad years of 
cruelty and want, until, before the French troops were with- 
drawn, he was liberated. He made a pen out of a nail, and 
by some means obtained ink, and kept his journal by writing 
on his white shirt. I saw it. It is written all over with the 
sickening history of those years. Permission to visit the 
prisons was refused me, except in a single and unimportant 
case; but I did enter and examine them. How I obtained ad- 
mission must not be told In this. 

" The Reformatory for Boys is a miserable affair. The 
'Foundling Hospital, for illegitimate babes, is a grand affair. 



138 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

The Superior told me the}^ have at present about four thousand, 
with two thousand nurses. Most of Iheni are scattered amoR"- 
families. I saw one hundred and fifty to two hundi-ed of them 
and apparently well cared for. The child is phiced at night in 
a box in the wall, and then turned into the reception-room — a 
bell rings, the nurse comes, and that is all that is known. I 
was told that ever}- fourth child in Eome is a ciiild of shame j 
for these priests and nuns, in order to induce the people to 
take care of them, call tlie cliiid 'Fii;lia della Mndonna' — that 
is. Child of the Virgin. Thus they cover the Yirgin with 
shame, rather than with honor. They worship her; and then, 
as our Savior was born of her, so they call all the children not 
born in lawful wedlock her children. Bad as Eome is, I was 
not prepared for any thing so shocking. 

"How I long to visit our principal cities, and tell them of 
what I see here, and try and stir up the people, and put 
them on their guard against the things that crush these people 
and threaten to overwhelm us." 

Thus writes an American clergyman, when surrounded 
by the crime of Papal Rome. 

Facts may be found nearer home. 

Montreal, Canada, is a stronghold of Popery; and a 
telegram of June 4, 1868, discloses the following shock- 
ing facts : 

"The report of the Genei-al Foundling Hospital of this city 
shows a shocking state of things. The number of children re- 
ceived during the last year was six hundred and fift^'-two, and 
the number of deaths si.K hundred and nineteen. Of the deaths, 
thirty-six were under a week; three hundred and sixty-eight 
under a month ; five hundred and eighty three under one year; 
six hundred and seventeen under five years, — leaving only two 
deaths among all the foundlings in the establishment between 
the ages of five and twelve. The report further shows that 
four hundred and twentj^-four infants were received only half- 
clothed; eight were absolutol}^ naked; eighteen had not even 
been washed, and fifteen were bleeding for want of the neces- 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 139 

sary attentions at birth ; forty six were tainted with the special 
disease of infamy ; eight had been wounded 1^^ instrnments; 
seven were more or less frozen, and a large number covered 
with vermin. One was sent from the United States in a carpet- 
bag; another at the bottom of a basket; another in a water- 
bucket; two came squeezed and bruised; another strongly 
nailed up in a box; another with a pin stuck through the flesh. 
The sufferings of eight infants, as well as their chance of life, 
had been lessened by doses of opium. It is no wonder, there- 
fore, that three were dead when received, twenty-eight dying, 
and one hundred and fiftj^-seven in actual disease. Most of the 
remainder perished through the wretched constitution inflicted 
on them by their parents." 

This institution is in charge of the Gray Nuns, and 
the report was made by Drs. Laroque and Carpenter, of 
the Sanitary Association, and may be accepted as au- 
thentic and true. 

Already American soil is polluted with these plngue- 
spots, which offer incentives to vice, by furnishing facil- 
ities by which to screen the perpetrators. New York, 
Brooklyn, and Chicngo can each boast of a foundling 
institution, and Protestants are being taxed to sustain 
them. The unrestrained influence of Auricular Confes- 
sion, in connection with professed sacerdotal celibacy, 
convents, and monasteries, may soon create a necessity 
for them in all large American cities. 

Through these institutions an immense number find 
early graves; and, of those who survive, without excep- 
tion, they are trained as Papists, and state appropriations 
asked for their subsistence. 

One illustration may suffice. The Legislature of New 
York granted a charter to a company of Romanists in. 



140 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

New York, in 1869, and in 1872 they made their Second 
Annual Report, which we have on file, in all its disgusting 
details; but which can not be here inserted. One or two 
facts mny illustrate its contents. It shows that, during 
the preceding year, more than seven hundred foundlings 
died under its care, and more than nine hundred, then 
living, were sustained by the city at the rate of eight 
dollars each, and four dollars each additional by dona- 
tions and contributions, making a total of twelve dollars 
each for more than nine hundred foundlings; or not less 
than $10,000 to sustain the institution the second year 
of its existence. 

If such institutions are permitted to multiply, what 
will soon be the condition of our country? Are vir- 
tuous Protestant men and women willing to be taxed 
to encourage licentiousness, and furnish female Jesuits 
facilities to perpetuate a system of corruption in our 
midst? 

The police reports of Chicngo for a period of four 
years, from 1866 to 1870, present the fact that, when 
the population of the city did not probably number 
more than two hundred thousand, the police arrested, 
during that period, more than eighty-eight thousand 
criminals. 

In the year 1868, the police of Chicago arrested 
twenty-two thousand and forty-three criminals, and the 
following table exhibits their nationalities. The figures 
show that twenty-one different nationalities were repre- 
sented in the criminal department, and that eleven 



CORRUPTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL. 141 

thousand eight hundred and twenty-five of them wore 
Irish, and that more than four-fifths of them were 
foreigners : 

NATIONALITIES. 

Americans 3,084 Indians 2 

Africans 787 Italians 75 

Bohemians 149 Mexicans 2 

Belgians 10 Norwegians 395 

Canaiiians, 150 Polandei'S 2 

Danes 25 Scotch 285 

English 565 Swedes 208 

French 229 Spaniards 3 

Germans 3,096 Swiss 2 

Hiingai-ians 8 Welsh 16 

Irish 11,825 

Total .....22,043 

Protestant Irish, Germans, and other nationalities, 
are noted for honest thrift and industry, and it is a noto- 
rious fact, shown by the records of crime and poverty in 
all the Northern cities, that the Roman Church furnishes 
an overwhelming majority of the criminals and paupers, 
for which the whole country is taxed. It also furnishes 
a very large proportion of the whisky sellers and drink- 
ers. Romanists are men of like passions with our- 
selves, and if it were not for the corrupting theology of 
the Church, and the despotism and corrupting influence 
of the priests through the confessional they might soon 
rise to a more exalted position, intellectually and morally. 
We have startling facts which are reserved for a subse- 
quent work. 

Northern cities are cursed with Popery. Life and 
property are insecure, and political corruption is unparal- 
leled, and the pillars of the nation tumble under its 



142 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

accumulating weight. It is clearly the result of putting 
corrupt men into power by a bargain and sale with the 
victims of Popery. Now the flood-tide is being turned 
into the South. The licentious monks, nuns, and Jesuits 
of Italy, whose property has been confiscated on account 
of their corrupting influence, are drifting into South 
America and into the Southern States of North America. 
And if this influence is not arrested, they will be to the 
South the heginning of sorrow. 

Could we speak to be heard by every true patriot, 
philanthropist, and Christian in America, Ave would say, 
first and last. As you value your country, your liberty, 
your life, and property, and as you value the happiness 
of posterity, beware of the priests, monks, nuns, and 
Jesuits, male and female, beware of convents and the 
confessional ! 



TEE CONFESSIONAL A THIEF-TRAP, 143 



CHAPTER Xin. 

THE CONFESSIONAL A THIEF-TRAP. 

UNABLE to defend Auricular Confession by Scripture 
and reason, Romanists have recommended it as a 
valuable tJiief-trap, or instrument for the restoration of 
stolen property. 

EXAMPLE NO. 1. 

"A case of conscience happened in St. Louis, which, though 
common enough, is always remarkable. A gentleman living 
in that city bad a diamond necklace stolen from him some 
time since, which Avas valued at three thousand dollars, and all 
the ingenuity of the police had failed to ferret out the culprit. 
The gentleman received it lately, in perfect order, through the 
hands of a Catholic priest, with whom it had been left, in the 
confessional. Thus, in spite of what Protestants say, confession 
is not a bare form in our Church. The revelations made at 
the knee of the priest have often saved nations as well as 
necklaces." (Boston Filot^ of December 19, 1863.) 

This case of conscience is reported on Roman Cath- 
olic authority, and the author admits that it is not an 
isolated case; that such cases are "common enough." 
As to the stealing part of this case, few will doubt that 
it is "common enough;" but as to restitution, it "is al- 
ways remarkable" — so remarkable that the priest pub- 
lishes it to the world. Nobody doubts that many Cath- 
olics steal, when thousands of them are annually con- 
victed of theft by the civil authority; but the question 



144 AURICULAE CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

is, AVhat becomes of the stolen property ? Not one case 
in a thousand has restitution to the injured person been 
reported. 

One of two things must be true, either: 

1. The priest was wrong in granting absolution when 
the penitent did not make restitution; or, 

2. The priest was Avrong in retaining the stolen prop- 
erty after restitution was made to him. 

EXAMPLE NO. 2. 

A few years since, the Eev. N. L. Eice, D. D., while residing 
in St. Louis, lost his silver spoons. Some time afterward a ])or- 
tion of them were returned through the confessional, and the 
Catholic paper of that city announced the "remarkable" fact 
with the usual flourisli of trumpets. Dr. Eice also acknowl- 
edged the receipt of a portion of his spoons; but stated that all 
bis spoons had not been returned, and modestly suggested that 
the priest did wrong in absolving the thief when full restitution 
was not made, or he did wrong in retaining the spoons after 
full restitution had been made to him. 

Here are two "remarkable" cases of restitution. If 
the Catholic editors will refer to the records of the police 
and criminal courts in St. Louis, they may find a few 
thousand more remarlmhle cases of Romish theft, where 
restitution was not made, and where the stolen property, 
like the doctor's spoons, and Milly M'Pherson (the lost 
nun), disappeared, to be seen no more. According to 
Romish theology, all Catholics are ohliged to confess all 
their mortal sins to the priest once each year. If they 
do not confess all, their confession is "void." If they 
do confess all (in case of theft), the priest intcniionally 
permits them to retain the stolen property, or he inten- 



THE CQNFESSIONAL A THIEF-TRAP. 145 

tionally keeps it himself; and,* in either case, he justifies 
the theft. 

What right have priests, more than other men, to 
conceal stolen property? By what right do they retire 
into dark corners and confession-boxes, and hold confi- 
dential correspondence with thieves ? 

But we are told that "the revelations made at the 
knee of the priest have often saved nations as well as 
necklaces." Did the Jesuit priest. Garnet, attempt to 
prevent the gunpoivder plot, to which he was accessary 
through the confessional? No. Did Auriculur Confes- 
sion save the life of Henry IV, in 1610, when the plan 
of his murder was known in the confessional? No. Did 
it prevent the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day in 
Paris? No. Did it oppose the Inquisition in Spain? 
No; never. It was the right-arm of power to the Inqui- 
sition, as it ever has been to Papal Rome and despotic 
governments. Where has the Roman confessional ever 
saved a Protestant nation? Where has it ever saved 
the life of a Protestant sovereign? History records no 
such fiicts. 

But, for the sake of an illustration, suppose we grant 
that the confession-box is a thief-trap, or ''den of thieves ;'^ 
that would not prove its utility. It only catches Cath- 
olic thieves, and history and facts prove that it makes 
more thieves than it catches. 

When we were in public discussion wn'th Priest 
Cogan, of Oskaloosa, lown, four years since, he endeav- 
ored to avoid a fair issue on Auricular Confesson, and 

10 



146 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

divert tittention from the theology of his Church, in the 
following manner : 

In the midst of his speech, he seated himself on a 
chair on the platform, Avith his face to th6 congregation 
and the back of the chair at his lide, and said, in sub- 
stance : Ladies and gentlemen, I will now give you a 
specimen of Auricular Confession. I am a priest, and a 
priest w-as never known to reveal Jiny thing from the 
confessional. And it is understood, of course, that there 
is always a screen between the priest and the penitent. 
We will suppose your servant-girl should come to the 
confessional, and I ask her if she has done any thing 
wrong. She says. Yes; I took a loaf of bread. I ask 
her how much it was worth. She says, so much. I 
ask if she did any thing else wrong. She says. Yes; I 
took more than one loaf I ask hoAV many. She do n't 
know. I ask about how long she continued to take a 
loaf each day. She says, About three months. I ask 
if she has done any thing else wrong. She says she 
took half a pound of butter each day, for three months. 
I ask if she did any thing else wrong. She says she 
took a ham of meat, worth so much. 

Thus he endeavored to show that the confessional 
was a Avondeiful thief-trap. 

In our reply, we frankly admitted that observation, 
and the bitter experience of many Protestants, could 
attest the fact that many of the most devout patrons of 
the confessional were expert thieves ; and the more they 
confessed, the more they seemed disposed to steal. And 



THE CONFESSIONAL A TEIEF-TRAP. 147 

one thing Avas certain, they were not accustomed to 
make restitution to Protestants. We pressed the ques- 
tion, to know what disi^osition was made of the stolen 
property: w^iether the priest, knowing the facts, sanc- 
tioned the theft by granting the thief absolution and 
permitting her to keep the stolen property, or whether 
they divided the spoils. 

We referred to the fact that the criminal and police 
courts and prisons show that a large majority of the 
thieves frequented the confessional ; and, while the con- 
fessional caught thieves, it only caught E-oman thieves; 
and that it made more than it caught. That when resti- 
tution w^as not made to the original owner the priest 
ought, to be held as farticeps criminis. 

Father Cogan failed to account for the stolen prop- 
erty; but, in the midst of his next half-hour's speech, 
proclaimed that he was very sick, and w^ould not debate 
further at present, but would return next Aveek and an- 
swer my lectures. It was evident that his sickness Avas 
only temporary, and not unto death, as he expected to 
be well next Aveek. 

On the next morninir, we rode in the omnibus to the 
depot Avith Father Cogan, and he seemed so Avell that Ave 
con":ratulated him on his earlv restoration to health, and 
suggested that his recent affliction Avas only an attack of 
billions cholic from an overdose of Latin theology. 

This thief-trap should receive due attention. Doubt- 
less, millions of property is annually stolen from Protes- 
tants, for Avhich restitution is not made. 



148 A URICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. ' 

The confessional did not save the late President of 
the United States from assassination. It is a fact of 
history, that the conspiracy was formed at the house of 
Mrs. Surratt, a confessing Romanist; that each of the 
conspirators first arrested were Romanists; that John 
Surratt, who fled to Italy and went into the Pope's 
army, was a Papist. 

These facts should not be forgotten; and if justice 
were done, the confessors of these assassins would be 
held to an account for complicity in that conspiracy. 
They doubtless, like Priest Garnett, felt bound to conceal 
the facts, on account of their obligation of secrecy. 



THE CONFESSIONAL ENSLAVES MEN. 149 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE CONFESSIONAL ENSLAVES MEN. 

T)0PEIIY and despotism mutually sustain each other. 
•*- The Government of the Romish Church is intensely 
monarchical. The priest sits as judge "in the court of 
conscience," and the faithful Papist, in a confessional, is 
arraigned as a criminal at his bar. By his Church he is 
taught to reverence the priest as the representative of 
God, clothed with plenary power to bind or to loose at 
pleasure, to forgive all his sins or consign him to hell 
forever. 

The fear of the priest is ever before the eyes of the 
true Romanist. The will of the priest is his will, the 
word of the priest is Ms law, and obedience to the priest 
his paramount duty. And the true Romanigt would 
sooner offend Almighty God than incur the displeasure 
of his parish priest. The man who bows his neck to the 
yoke of Auricular Confession is a slave the most abject. 
His spirit is crushed and broken ; he no longer stands 
erect as a free many The bondman of Egypt, under the 
lash of Pharaoh's taskmaster was a free man when com- 
pared Avith him. He breathes the air of liberty, treads 
the soil of freedom, and yet voluntarily surrenders his 
civil and religious liberty at the will and pleasure of a 



150 A UEICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Popish priest. Shame on an American citizen who will 
submit to such servile degradation. The priest may 
comfelMww io fast to-day and feast to-morrow, or he may 
permit him to gulp down ''rot — wMslty^' small potatoes, 
and sour Jcrout to-day, and require him to eat fish, eggs, 
and hitter to-morroiv. The priest may permit him to lie, 
cheat, steal, murder, and break every commandment in 
the Decalogue, and live in communion with the Church, 
provided he goes to confession once each year, and once 
each year eats w^hole and entire the Lord Jesus Christ — 
^^His hodi/y his soul, his blood, and diviniti/^ 

The priest may enter the domestic circle and dictate 
to a family of Romanists from parlor to kitchen, from the 
head of the family to the chamber-maid, and his will is 
supreme law, which they dare not violate. He may, and 
often does, attempt to separate husband and wife, who 
were lawfully married (by a Protestant minister or a 
civil nifigistrate) by pronouncing their marriage ''null and 
void, illicit and criminair 

He may, through the confessional, under false pre- 
tense, extort from widows and orphans large sums of 
money, or literally "roh widoivs houses, and for a pretense 
make long prayers" 

If the priest imposes penance, the faithful Romanist 
must perform it, or otherwise incur the liability to be 
sentenced to endless punishment. If a Catholic comes 
into a Protestant church with the intention to hear and 
investigate the truth for himself, or if he reads a Protest- 
ant Bible, he commits a mortal sin which, if not con- 



THE CONFESSIONAL ENSLAVES MEN. 151 

fessed to the priest, and by him pardoned, will insure to 
the unfortunate subject the pains of eternal death. If 
such an offense against the Church was committed in a 
Papal country, where the power of the priesthood is un- 
restrained, the unfortunate subject might anticipate severe 
punishment, if not imprisonment and death. If the 
parish priest should make it a matter of conscience that 
his flock vote /or or against a political candidate, not one 
would dare incur his hot displeasure by voting otherwise. 
All priests and bishops are under the dictation of the 
Pope of Rome, and all orthodox Catholics acknowledge 
their allegiance to him is paramount to every other 
obligation. The confessional is the secret sustaining and 
propelling power of this huge despotism. 

Over the door of each confessional might be appro- 
priately inscribed : 

" let my strong unerring hand 
Assume thy bolts to throw, 
And deal damnation round the land 
On each I judge my foe." 

AVith all our boasts of American independence, this 
country abounds with slaves most abject, and made so 
through the Romish confessional. Through the confes- 
sional the clergy enforce on the laity the observance of 
the intolerant dogma and ritual of the Church, and the 
autocratic dictum of ecclesiastical superiors. They claim 
the power to assess at discretion the laity for Church 
purposes. The Fifth Commandment of the Church 
makes it imperative on all to jpai/ the priest, and a viola- 



152 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

tion of this precept is a mortal sin, which exposes the 
sinner to eternal death, and the priest claims the power 
to enforce the penalty. Under this general system of 
clerical finabce, the clergy have a source of immense 
revenue and many perquisites, among which may be 
enumerated pew rent, pay for masses, both for the living 
and the dead ; fees for baptism for adults, infants, and 
foetal abortions ; funerals, marriages, and indulgences, 
etc., all of which are attended Avith financial considera- 
tions, and the priest has the power to enforce collections. 
When a Church enterprise is projected, the priest has the 
right to assess the laity, and under ecclesiastical penalty 
enforce collections. And here let it be understood, that 
ecclesiastical penalty in the Church of Rome involves a 
financial consideration. The person publicly denounced 
is persecuted and proscribed, and his only condition of 
reconciliation and absolution is implicit submission to his 
ecclesiastical superior. So that the Roman clergy not 
only profess to hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 
but by virtue of this assumption they really hold a death 
grasp on the purse or pocket-book of every member of 
the Church. 

Through this means they often regulate the wages of 
the laboring classes, infusing a spirit of discontent, and 
thereby promoting if not directly instigating the mobo- 
cratic spirit which so often developes itself in popular 
tumults and bloodshed, mildly denominated " siriJcesJ* 

When railroads are being constructed, priests aire 
detailed to collect the monthly dues from the Romaix 



THE CONFESSIONAL ENSLAVES MEN. 153 

laborers, and when not promptly paid, we have knowledge 
of numerous instances where the priest has demanded 
and received it from the paymaster of the road. 

The wages of servant girls are often regulated 
through the confessional. This may account for the fact 
that when the wages of one is raised in a city or place, 
the wages of all others are raised simultaneously, and the 
extra amount usually appropriated for some enterprise of 
the Roman Church. Thus, through the confessional, a tax 
is assessed on Protestants to sustain Popery, and collected 
from them by their hired servants, and there are living 
witnesses to these facts. This system of clerical espion- 
age extends to every department of business and society. 

Romanists may not lawfully marry except under 
clerical dictation, and their subsequent domestic inter- 
course as husband and wife must be regulated in the 
most minute details, according to the prescribed rules of 
their moral theology, and the priests in the confessional 
are required to exact detailed statements from wdves 
relative to their strict conformity to ritual and theology 
in these matters. The most indelicate and disgusting 
questions not only may, but absolutely must, be an- 
swered. Considerations of modesty are not to be taken 
into the account. 

Political matters are also subject to the same espion- 
age and intolerant dogmatic dictation. The E-oman clergy 
are seldom seen in mass meetings, or at the ballot-box ; 
but their influence is felt there. Many of them never 
vote, and it is well that they do not. They are the sub- 



154 A URICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

jects of a foreign despot to Ayliom they have sworn su- 
perior allegiance, whose will is law, Avhose displeasure is 
perdition, and to whom they are indebted for their loaves 
and fishes. They have in their respective congregations 
fugle-men who can better subserve their interests, and 
who are ever present in political meetings to manipulate 
according to the w^ishes of their clerical dictators. To 
facilitate this w^ork, numerous secret societies^ under vari- 
ous pretenses, are organized, under the direct supervision 
of the Ex)man clergy, and often with the clergy officially 
at their head. Among these organizations are the 
Jesuits, Fenians, Hibernians, St. Patricks, Knights of 
St. Patrick, Father Matthew, and Father Burke societies, 
and others, loo numerous to mention. Above all these, 
the so-called "Catholic Union,'' which is the consolidation 
of these treasonable political secret organizations. This 
last named organization is the focal point around which 
are being concentrated the energies of the Roman clergy, 
and through which, aided by infidelity and the liquor 
influence, they hope to foist into position and power cor- 
rupt men who will subserve their sordid interests, and 
through whose legislation they expect to suppress the 
freedom of speech and of the press, degrade free schools, 
and thereby secure State funds for their sectarian paro- 
chial schools, and compel Protestants to contribute to 
support their driveling nonsense, and antiquated, dis- 
gusting mummery. Not unfrequently, in consideration 
of this consolidated Roman vote, pledges are exacted 
from unscrupulous demagogues before elections, that in 



THE CONFESSIONAL ENSLAVES MEN. 155 

their legislation, or in their official appointments they 
will subserve the interests of the Papacy. Thus, through 
the insidious influence of the confessional, virtue is pros- 
trated, life and property jeopardized, civil and religious 
liberty threatened with destruction, and all to subserve 
the interests of Popery, whose native element is despot- 
ism, whose history is tarnished with innocent blood, aiid 
whose consecrated aggressive weapons are racks, gibbets, 
fagots, dungeons, inquisitions, and infuriated mobs ? We 
appeal to the sons of revolutionary sires. Shall Amer- 
ican free men yield their blood-bought, heaven-blessed 
institutions to the insidious intrigue and eternal hatred 
of a treason-working Roman hierarchy ? NO ! Let the 
emphatic response of holi/ indignation burst from the 
hearts of free men. NO ! Let life, property, and sacred 
honor be pledged ; let American patriots arise and man 
their posts, panoplied Avith the weapons of justice, vigil- 
ance, and eternal truth ; disseminate intelligence, protect 
the Sabbath, distribute the Bible, and by all laudable 
and peaceable means maintain evangelical piety, and 
thus repel the invaders, defend their institutions, and 
protect their liberties. And if the pall of P«apal night 
begins to enshroud them, a foreign despot grasps at the 
reins of their Government, and Papal dupes, in fiendish 
triumph, proclaim the funeral knell of their liberties, 
then let American steel, wielded by freedom's potent 
arm, rend the Papal gloom, and the pure blood of free 
men wash the foul stain from the ensign of America's 
noble sons. 



156 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER XY. 

PROTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 

TTNWELCOME as the truth may be, many nominal 
Protestants are the bond slaves of Popery, and fear 
more the "anathema'^ of the father confessor than the 
wrath of Omnipotence. 
There, for example, is 

FARMER TRUSTWORTHY. 

He has ten thousand acres, more or less, of beautiful, 
rich land, his house furnished, and his barns filled. He 
numbers his cattle by thousands, while bankers and 
brokers bow obsequiously to him. If there is a man on 
earth who may boast of personal independence, he is 
that man. He sincerely believes that he daily thanks 
God for civil and religious liberty. He once almost Avept 
his eyes dim over the real and imaginary evils of African 
slavery. He would not own a slave for all the gold of 
California, nor be a slave for the whole world; and yet, 
poor, mistaken soul, he is a slave to his ignorant and 
superstitious hirelings, through the confessional. He 
dare not, at his breakfast-table, speak his sentiments on 
Romanism in the presence of his wife or children. But 
why not? The reason is obvious. There sits "Mike," 



PEOTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 157 

"Pat," "Barney/' "Jimmy Reagan," "Dan O'Flalierty," 
and a few more priest-ridden victims of the confessional, 
who have been taught, and who most sincerely believe, 
that "heretics" have no rights which Romanists are 
bound to respect, and that a word spoken figainst "Holy 
Mother Church" is a mortal sin deserving death and 
eternal perdition. The result may be easily inferred : 
Mike will get mad and leave, Pat will tell the priest, 
Jimmy and the rest will raise Satan generally, and 
"Farmer Trustworthy" will be left alone to hoe his 
corn and potatoes. 

Shame on such truculent pusillanimity. He could 
discuss the merits of any other subject or system of 
religion, and, if he choose to do so, denounce any other 
denomination in unmeasured terms of obliquy, with their 
most unqualified approbation; but the mildest allusion 
to the errors of Romanism explodes the magazine of their 
concealed wrath, the effect of which he dreads more 
than he does the bolts of heaven's artillery. A slave 
most abject is he whose soul is not his own. 

MERCHANT BLARNEY 

Is constitutionally and habitually a pleasant, affable, 
easy-going gentleman, and desires the good will of man- 
kind generally, and especially their patronage. With 
him the great 7noral question is, " Will it 'payT Enter 
his large store on Main Street. He will meet you with 
a smile, and converse fluently about prices current. Wall 
Street brokers, "Bulls and bears," and the general topics 



158 AUmCVLAE CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

of the day. He seems to be a princely merchant, and a 
perfect gentleman at home, and possessed of a manly 
independence sufficient for any emergency. He pro- 
fesses to be a true Protestant, from principle and from 
choice. He becomes eloquent in the discussion of party 
politics, and among Protestants boldly asserts his relig- 
ous principles. But introduce the subject of Romanism, 
and how changed his deportment! He cautiously glances 
an eye to the remote part of his store, Avhere he has a 
Romanist for salesman or book-keeper, who is there to 
secure Ptonian customers', and perhaps at the instigation 
of a priest, whose interests he is endeavoring to sub- 
serve. Probably, better men have been rejected, simply 
because they were Protestants, and would not cater to 
the sycophantic wishes of the proprietor. There yet 
stands the proprietor, in painful suspense, looking first 
over one shoulder, then over the other, in breathless 
silence. 

The reason is obvious. He has a few yards of cheap 
calico, worth about six cents per yard (and a hard bar- 
gain at that), and he knows that, unless he can impose 
it on Bridget, he will never sell it, in this world or in 
the next. And he must have a clear coast before he 
dare utter a sentence on the subject of Romanism, 
lest the fact should reach the priest in the confessional, 
and he lose the hard-earned patronage of the Church, 
which he has gained at the sacrifice of manly inde- 
pendence. 

Thus the princely merchant, Blarney, with the fear 



PROTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 159 

of the confessional before his eyes, is a crouching slave 
to his Roman customers. 

DOCTOR DOOLITTLE. 

A few doors around the corner is the office of Doctor 
Doolittle, with an old scull and a few bones lyiuflf loosely 
around for the edification of small children, and for the 
especial comfort of nervous women. A few empty 
quinine bottles, and many large patent-medicine adver- 
tisements, proclaim him a man of business. He looks 
out through his youthful glasses the very personification 
of wisdom, and speaks Latin so fluently that he has al- 
most forgotten his vernacular tongue. 

The subject of Romanism is introduced, and he 
prances around his room (six by nine), vociferating and 
gesticulating as if the destiny of the nation w^ere sus- 
pended on his lips. Do you inquire what is the matter? 
Matter enough! He has a few sugar-coated pills, hard 
enough to shoot at muskrats. He knows he w'ill never 
sell them on earth, unless he prescribes them for "Pat," 
^^Mike," ^'Barney," or some of the rest, when they shake 
^'wid the acjuer His pills must be sold if, as a conse- 
quence, the world should be damned. 

With him, "one religion is about as good as another," 
and his moral vision never rises above his sordid interests. 
With him, principle is both antiquated and obsolete. He 
keeps one eye to the confessional, and the other to his 
pocket; and would sooner offend Jesus Christ than a 
parish priest. 



160 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

GROCER DRINKALL, 

The personification of brutality and vulgarity, is horri- 
fied at the thought of any presumptuous mortal daring 
to utter a word against the " Holy Mother Church." Its 
members are his best customers ; and if his whisky is 
not strong they will take the more of it. He would be 
bankrupt in twelve months if all were Protestants, and 
true to their principles. He occasionally gives the 
priest a free glass for his influence in the confessionaL 

ATTORNEY ALLQUIBBLE. 

He reads Blackstone, Chitty, Kent, Greenleaf, Story, 
etc., during the week, with a cigar in his mouth, and his 
heels on his office table, often higher than his head. He 
derives legal inspiration from the fumes of tobacco, and 
often intensified by bad whisky. He seldom reads the 
Bible; but is a theologian by intuition. He attends 
the Roman Church, and braces himself u,pon his imagin- 
ary dignity, often assuming a large amount he never 
possessed. He nods assent to whole pages of Latin, ten 
words of which he does not understand. Do you ask 
for the cause of his devotion ? The answer is brief: he 
is an aspiring politician ; he wants the patronage of the 
Church duiing the week, and, above all, he wants votes 
on election day. By name he is a Protestant, by inter- 
est a Papist. As to principle or piety, destitute of both. 
He bows obeisance to the priest, hoping to be remembered 
graciously in the confessional^ and in a trying hour, late 



PROTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 161 

in the afternoon on some future election day. lie is 
open to conviction on all great Uoman questions, and 
willing to pledge himself in consideration of the Roman 
vote, that, if elected, he will advocate certain specified 
appropriations of puhlic funds for Roman institutions, 
or that he will favor the reduction of the salaries of 
teachers in the public schools, and especially oppose the 
reading of the Bible in them. He further pledges that 
he will oppose, to the extent of his ability, the enact- 
ment of any law that will restrict the desecration of the 
Sabbath, or prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors, 
whereby his Roman constituents might be deprived of 
Sabbath " recreation," and the indispensable privilege of 
selling beer and bad whisky. He further pledges, that 
if he can not wholly succeed in abolishing those objec- 
tionable ''sumptuary/'' laws, he will endeavor to have 
them so modified and guarded with legal technicalities, 
that an expert or shyster before a packed jury will make 
it extremely difficult to enforce the penalty. And if 
there is any other scavenger work to be done, he is ready 
for the contract. Of course he would spurn a bribe, that, 
if detected, might subject him to a penalty; but, being a 
lawyer, he has a right to expect a fee for professional 
service. And in consideration of a few thousand dollars, 
pledged for the purpose of lobbying and "log rolling," he 
Avill take a contract. Under these circumstances it is not 
difficult for him to find assistance. Others who have 
been elected by similar influences, as unscrupulous as 

himself, may each have an "ax to grind," and they work 

11 



162 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXP:SEr, 

each for the other, but all for sordid self. Thus legisla- 
tion is corrupted, the people are defrauded, the country 
impoverished, and monopolies formed to subserve the 
interests of aspiring demagogues, whose election was 
secured through the influence of Romanists, and by the 
direct instigation and dictation of the confessional. A 
careful examination of this subject will exhibit the fact 
that the present corruption of this country is justly 
attributed to the partisan strife and the consequent pro- 
motion of unscrupulous demagogues to position and 
power, through the alien influence of a forefgn popula- 
tion, many of whom have been made infidels by Popery, 
and others through the confessional, under the dictation 
of ecclesiastical superiors, or the sworn vassals of an 
ecclesiastical despot at Rome. In view of these and 
similar facts, it is not strange that honest patriots, re- 
gardless of party, are combining their influence to sup- 
press this prolific source of political corruption. 

Let the confessional be suppressed, and Roman priest- 
craft will lose its corrupting political power, and as a 
consequence, aspiring partisans will sink to obscurity in 
merited contempt, and their places be filled by better 
men. 

PETER PETTIFOGGER. 

This distinguished personage had the misfortune to 
be born a professional man, deficient in brains. His dis- 
tinguishing qualifications are impudence, ignorance, and 
strong lungs. He is too much of a gentleman to work, 
and as a professional man, his ability is not appreciated. 



PROTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 163 

He is an expert when whittling pine splinters and dis- 
coursing on politics in a third-rate country tavern, or at 
the door of a cheap store, or in a drinking saloon. He 
sits around loosely, waiting for something to turn up; he 
pries into CA^ery body's business, but, unfortunately^, has 
but little of his own. If there is strife, or petty litiga- 
tion in the community, he is sure to interest himself, 
and, if possible, increase the difficulties, and prevent an 
amicable adjustment. At primary caucusses he is ever 
present; he is a man of expediency. Qualification for 
office, and honest principle, are with him never taken 
into the account. At political hustings he shouts the 
loudest against political corruption by men in power, 
provided his party are out of office. 

When the election approaches, he becomes officiously 
obsequious ; he bows politely to Mike Mooney, Pat 
OTlaherty, etc., and significanily suggests that it will be 
for the interest of their religion if certain candidates are 
elected ; that he has at his disposal several hundred dol- 
lars for free drinks^ which can be had in consideration of 
the votes of certain customers, and, as additional incen- 
tive, the parties to be elected are in full sympathy with 
their business, if not daily patrons. The motive is suffi- 
cient ; Mooney and O'Flaherty are converted and 
pledged to the cause. Whisky flows freely, and the 
rabble shout for and vote for the men who paid for the 
whisky. And whatever may be be the result to indi- 
viduals, society, or the country at large, is a matter of 
indifference, since a visit to the confessional, and alms 



164 AVRICVLAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

for the priest, will insure absolution. Perjury and mur- 
der may have been committed in drunken debauchery, 
but the magic wand of Auricular Confession wipes all 
away, and leaves "Peter Pettifogger" and his accomplices 
in spotless purity to resume their works at pleasure. 

Thus scavenger work is done on contract; and this, 
bargain and sale corrupts all parties, and fills responsible 
offices with irresponsible men. 

In party strife, Romanists are put forward by each 
party to control the clanish votes of their sect, and if 
not elected by one party, they may be elected by another, 
and in either case promotes them to position and power, 
and thereby jeopardizes the peace and safety of the peo- 
ple. But what does Peter care for the well-being of so- 
ciety? His India-rubber conscience causes him no trouble; 
he is willing to become all things to aU sorts of men, 
women, and children, if, by all means, he may control a 
few votes on election dny. He w^ould sell his soul to the 
devil, and his body to the Pope, for partisan purposes. 

FLORA M'FLIMSEY 

Is another dupe of Papal despotism. It may be she 
lives in a large brown-stone mansion, thoroughly fur- 
nished. She professes to be a true Protestant, and boasts 
of her puritan ancestry. 

Tap gently the silver bell at her door, and out comes 
Bridget; you are seated in the parlor, and Bridget re- 
tires. Presently Flora makes her appearance, and seems 
to be a lady of intelligence and independence equal to 



PROTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 165 

any emergency. She converses freely and frankly on 
the general topics of the day, not excepting metaphysics, 
theology, and political economy. In fact, she seems to 
possess personal independence sufficient to command a 
regiment of soldiers at Waterloo or Bunker Hill. But 
let the subject of Romanism be introduced, and how 
changed her deportment. She glances a significant eye 
to the sitting-room, dining-room, or kitchen, as she 
quietly closes the parlor door, and in a suppressed voice, 
almost a whisper, she announces the important fact "my 
servant, Bridget, is a Catholic." She could have freely 
criticised any other sect or party, could have censured 
the Congress or President of the United States; but she 
dare not speak her sentiments on Romanism in the pres- 
ence of an ignorant servant. The reason is obvious. 
She knows that her servant is a spy in her house, and 
that a word spoken against Romanism will be reported 
to the priest in . the confessional, and he may take away 
her servant, and prevent her from obtaining another, and 
thus compel her to wash her own spoons. Poor Flora, 
with all her wealth and boasted independence, she is a 
slave to an ignorant dupe of Popery, and she is more 
influenced by the muttering curses of a bachelor priest 
in the confessional, than by the voice of her Omnipotent 
Creator. 

SIMON SIMPLETON. 

He is a nondescript whose insignificant dimensions 
baffle description of pen or tongue, whose impudence is 
only commensurate with his ignorance. He is a forked 



166 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

thing, with fat meat for brains, with empty head and 
pocket, and, if requisite, willing to replenish both wdth 
falsehood. He has been promoted froin the position of a 
third-rate '^ printer's devil," to the responsible position 
of a fourth-class penny-a-liner. Like a half-famished 
canine, he is scenting every cesspool in search of gar- 
bage. By instinct, if not by education, is a defender 
of the Roman faith, whisky shops, and the confessional. 
He is a fit subject for Popish priestcraft, and a persistent 
and perpetual applicant for scavenger work. In name 
he is Protestant, in principle nothing. He is incompe- 
tent to report an intelligent address, and in his blissful 
ignorance imagines himself competent to intimidate men 
of principle Jind sense, who dare defend the right. Ut- 
terly irresponsible, a slave to the confessional, so far be- 
neath contempt that he can only be reached by the 
withering blast of scorn. . 

PARSON GOODTALK 

Is pastor of a large and fashionable city Church. He 
belongs to a highly honored and very useful class of 
professional men. He is a perfect gentleman, a profound 
scholar in many departments, a conscientious Christian, 
and in his theological training he split all the fine hairs 
in critical exegesis between Calvin and Arminius, but, 
unfortunately, never sounded the bottomless gulf be- 
tween the Pope of Home and Jesus Christ. And, as a 
consequence, he is silent on that subject. He really 
knows but little of the fearful depths of corruption 



PROTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 167 

veiled in the "Mystery of Iniquity," and his congrega- 
tion far less. Members of his Church, with their infants 
in their arms, and tears in their eyes, will solemnly cov- 
enant, before God and the Church, that they will train 
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, 
and w^ho, at the earliest opportunity, send them to a 
Roman convent or Jesuit school, to be trained in the 
service of the devil. The lambs of the flock are slaugh- 
tered by w^olves, and the watchful shepherd gives the 
alarm, and, with shepherd's crook and sling, attempts to 
defend his flock against the ravages of the destroyer. 
But here he is assailed through the confessional. Not 
directly; this would be detected, and denounced as per- 
secution. No; the most polished shafts of the devil's 
armory must be brought into requisition. There is 
Deacon Brown, Colonel Jones, and Alexander the Cop- 
persmith, who are regarded as pillars of*the Church, and 
upon whom the poor shepherd is largely dependent for 
pasturage and a field in which to labor. They are 
worldly-minded business men, engaged in heavy commer- 
cial transactions, and view all moral questions from a 
worldly stand-point, and decide questions of religious 
principle by a computation of present loss and gain. 
Here, again, is another opportunity to crush a faithful 
minister, and stab the cause of truth, through the con- 
fessional; and the priest of Bome gladly avails himself 
of the opportunity. Through the confessional, he hurls 
the weight of his congregation against the business in- 
terests of these Church officers ; and they, feeling the 



168 AURICULAE CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

pressure, but not' comprehending its import, fly at once 
to the pastor for relief. They entreat him, in all sin- 
cerity, to desist; that preaching against Romanism will 
ruin their Church. The Church is feeble, and only able 
to meet expenses now, and a few more sermons on that 
subject will be fatal to its future success. 

0, how little do such men understand the hidden 
mystery. Popery ! How little do they comprehend the 
fact that they are under the instigation of a Popish priest 
in the confessional, muzzling the mouth and fettering the 
hands of a faithful minister of Jesus Christ! How little 
do they comprehend the fact that they are plunging a 
dagger to the heart of the Church they profess to love! 

Such are the secret workings of Auricular Confes- 
sion. It is an all-pervading spirit of intolerance; and, 
in all departments of society and business, to the extent 
of clerical power, it is used to intimidate Protestants, to 
prevent them from asserting their rights and defending 
their principles. 

Special effort is made to embarrass Protestant enter- 
prises, and intimidate public men. There is scarcely 
an influential political newspaper in the land, of any 
party, that is not held under restrictions by Popery. 
They are endeavoring to gain possession of many of the 
large public halls, and, when they can do no more, get 
in Romanists as agents; and in either case have poAver 
to favor Papists, and annoy or exclude Protestants. 
They are putting forward Romanists as reporters for 
papers, from whom it is next to impossible to obtain a 



FEOTESTANT SLAVES TO THE CONFESSIONAL. 169 

fair and truthful report of any lecture or address by a 
Protestant. Special attention is given to all that relates 
to the interests of Popery. 

Through the confessional, efforts are made to sup- 
press the circulation of the Bible among the people, and 
its use in schools. Through the confessional, efforts are 
made to cause news-agents and even train-boys to circu- 
late Roman literature ; and in all possible ways the con- 
fessional is employed to darken and mislead the minds 
of its adherents. It is the secret projecting power of 
mobs, tumults, and assassinations. The best method of 
quelling a mob is to give the priest due notice that he 
will be held responsible for the consequences. 

After careful observation for more than a quarter of 
a century, and in many of the strongholds of Popery in 
America; and after having repelled mob violence, and 
thwarted repeated plots of assassination, we confidently 
assert, as our deliberate conviction, that Roman mobs are 
either by direct instigation of the clergy, or the result 
of their intolerant theology through the confessional, or 
both combined. And we unhesitatingly declare that, in 
our opinion, the most effectual method of preventing or 
suppressing mob violence is, to hold the Roman clergy 
accountable, in person and property, for the consequences. 



170 A URICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

PRISON-PENS FOR AMERICAN DAUGHTERS. 

TTfE can not dismiss the subject of Auricular Confes- 
sion in connection with convent life, without giving 
one more incident. 

The Inquisition yet exists at E-ome, and Catholic 
bishops from America, with the knoAvledge of the fact, 
have gone to Home, to bow obsequiously around the 
Pope, and, possibly, may enjoy the exquisite pleasure of 
kissing his big-toe. This is their privilege, and we do 
not covet their pleasure. But we have a right to say 
something about their prison-pens in our own country. We 
have a right to look into the dungeons of high-walled 
convents. We have a right to demand the release of 
prisoners who are famishing for food. We have a right 
to demand the protection of the orphan, and the liberty 
of captives ; and we appeal to Americans and Protestants 
to lend their influence, until the oppressed shall go free. 
The following is but one instance of suffering and op- 
pression. We regard the statements as well authenti- 
cated. We are personally acquainted with some of the 
parties, and, from prudential reasons, withhold names. 

We have other startling facts, which, if published, 
might jeopardize the life of the victim. Head the 



PBISON-PENS FOR AMERICAN DA UGHTERS. 1 71 

following letters, and, in the strength of American Prot- 
estants, resolve that the prisons shall be opened, and the 
oppressed shall go free : 

" QuiNCY, June 24, 18G7. 

"J. G. White: Dear Sir, — The inclosed letter is from a 
young lady who went to the convent at Belleville, one year 
a«50, to attend school. She is an orphan ; has considerable of 

fortune ; also has Mr. , of this city, as guardian. She was 

engaged to be married when she started to the school, but 
wished to be better prepared to mingle in the accomplished 
society which her marriage would throw her in. And this, sir, 
is the end to which she is brought in this short time. I wish 
you would publish this, and perhaps it would keep some other 
Protestant girl from going. There are few strong enough to 
withstand their power when once under their care. 

"QuiNCY Friend." 

" Belleville, June 13, 1867. 

"Mrs. : Dear Friend, — ^You have not the slightest 

idea of the extraordinary pleasure that I derived from yours 
of May 15th. I should have written ere this, but I wished to 
give you a decided answer as to whether I could come home 
or not. With inexpressible jo}^ would I accept your kind invi- 
tation if it were possible, but the sad news came this morning 
that I can not. O, what a smart to my heart ! TVhat a cloud 
hangs over my life, when I think that I shall never — no, 
never — more behold you, my dear and cherished friend ! I had 
flattered myself with the vain hope that I should see you once 
more: vain hopes! they sadly deluded me. I shall soon part 
with all that is dear. I am to be received into the Trappist 
order. I will give you a slight idea of the life I shall hereafter 
lead. We never appear outside the walls; never smile; never 
speak, only when very necessary; sleep in a coffin, and each 
day dig a small j^ortion of our own grave; practice all kinds 
of penance and fastings. Our food is bread and water chiefly, 
with herb soup. No flesh eaten. 

"O, what a contrast! I often compare it with the past, and 
can hardly believe it true — sometimes imagine it a dream; 



172 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

but no, it is reality. The world no longer affords me pleasure. 
No doubt, 3'ou will think mc strange; perhaps crazy. I am 
not, yet. Let your thoughts be as strange as they may, they 
can not exceed mine. I have one request to make. I pray, I 
beg of you, to never efface me from your memory. O, what a 
consolation will it be to me, in my lonely cloister, to know that 
you, my dearest friend, will think of me when all others shall 
have forgotten me! I look upon you as my consoling angel. 
Oft in my solitude will I think of you. I shall never forget 
your dear features. No doubt, I have hitherto displeased and 
offended you; .but I implore your forgiveness. Erelong, you 
may look upon me as one dead; for so I shall be to the gay 
and gaudy world. I believe I have written quite enough for 
the present. 

" Please remember me to , and accept my love for 

yourself. I am, as ever, your loving 

"MOLLIE." 

We published the facts at the time, and appealed to 
the guardian of this orphan giil to rescue her, which we 
are informed he did immediately. Time alone can de- 
velop her future destiny. The fact that convents have 
their prison-pens and appliances of cruelty is no longer 
a matter of doubt, and that helpless females are there 
imprisoned for life is equally evident. 

How long will slumbering Americans submit to the 
dictation and domination of mediseval Popery, with its 
dungeons and tortures? How long shall the cry of 
orphans be unheard ? How long shall ecclesiastical 
brothels corrupt American youth, and defy the civil 
authorities to investigate their sanctimonious pretensions? 
If county and State prisons, alms-houses, and asylums 
may be inspected, why not convents and monasteries? 
Why should prison-pens be established in our midst, 



PBISON'PENS FOB AMERICAN DAUGHTERS. 173 

under the minions of the Pope of Rome, who yet sits 
brooding over the Inquisition in Rome, while patriots 
pine in its sanguinary vaults ? 

We nppeal to Americans, and all friends of ciAdl 
and religious liberty, to arise in your legislativ^e sover- 
eignty, and demand that convents shall be open to in- 
spection, or forever closed, on American soil. 



174 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED THROUGH THE CONFESSIONAL. 

nnUE fact that Romanists are engnged in a conspiracy 
-^ to destroy civil and religious liberty in America is 
apparent to all who have given careful attention to the 
subject. It is equ«'dly evident that the Papal power is 
broken on the Eastern Continent, and its last forlorn 
hope is on the Continent of America, and to this its 
energies are directed. Its plans are far-reaching and 
deeply laid, and a struggle has commenced with a des- 
peration worthy of a doomed and despairing despotism. 
The spirit of Popery is inherently intolerant ; it is un- 
changed and unchangeable for the better. The idea of a 
radical reformation in the system of Popery is a fallacy 
incompatible with history and w^ithout authority from 
the Bible. The system of Popery is not, was not, and 
never can be, an integral part of the Church of Jesus 
Christ. It is a huge excrescence which, amidst igno- 
rance and superstition, has developed itself, and which 
has endeavored to subvert and supplant every principle 
of truth taught by Jesus Christ. In the whole range of 
Christian theology there is not a cardinal doctrine which 
Papal Rome has not distorted or perverted, not except- 
ing the divinity of Jesus Christ. To a casual reader 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 175 

terms are often employed that seem to be in conformity 
to the teaching of the Bible, and are therefore more 
liable to mislead and deceive. The system of Popery 
is not to be reformed, but to be "destroyed by the 
brightness of His coming." 

The Papal power is now, as in time past, unscrupu- 
lous as to the means to be employed, provided they ac- 
complish the desired end. " No faith with heretics" is as 
true of Popery now in America as in the days of John 
Huss and the Inquisition. The cruel edicts of Popes and 
Councils are not repealed, and they are ready to be en- 
forced if Romanists had the power. The fires of Papal 
persecution are not extinct, they are only obscured amidst 
the ruins and smoldering ashes of an ecclesiastical des- 
potism. A favorable breeze w^ould again fan them to a 
flame. The recent proclamation of infallibility is only 
the reassertion of the intolerant principles of the dark 
ages. It is worthy of Pope Gregory YLI, the nefarious 
despot, by whom it was originated, and the corrupt and 
licentious Popes by whom it was maintained. 

The recent proclamation of the Pope's infallibility is 
an insult to common sense, and a reiteration of the in- 
tolerant principles which have caused the death of mill- 
ions of God's faithful servants. 

The doctrine of infallibility is by many imperfectly 
understood. It has a direct connection with every 
other p<trt of the intolerant system, not excepting 
AuricuLir Confession. Infiillibility, as defined and un- 
derstood at Rome and in apppoved theology, means: 



176 A UBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

1. That in "dogma" (doctrine of the Church) the 
Pope can not err. 

2. That by Divine right he is universal spiritual 
sovereign throughout the world, and all arc bound to 
obey him. 

3. That by virtue of his universal spiritual supremacy 
he is also universal temporal sovereign — above king, queen, 
emperor, president, or constitution — and as such he re- 
quires all Homanists to swear superior allegiance to him. 

Thus Doctor Dollinger and Father Hyacinthe de- 
clare that they can not be true to the government under 
which they live, and true to the dogma of infallibility. 
Nor can a man he an orthodox Romanist and true to the 
Constitution of the United States. They are as adverse as 
light and darkness, liberty and despotism, Christ and 
antichrist. No man can be true to both. Popery is 
confessedly an absolute monarchy. The Government of 
the United States is a democratic Republic. They have 
no affinity for each other. 

Protestantism and Popery have never harmonized, 
nor can they ever harmonize. One or the other will, on 
this continent, become extinct. Papists are sanguine, 
and boast that thej^ will subvert and supplant Protest- 
antism in America. Many intelligent Protestants declare 
that they shall not do it. And a conflict of a fearful 
character is inevitable, and probably much nearer than 
many persons have imagined. Romanists are thoroughly 
organized, and many Protestants are profoundl}'' asleep, 
apprehending no danger. 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 177 

To arrest attention and awake a slumbering nation, 
let facts be exhibited, and let the people observe the 
fearful oaths by Avhich Komanists bind themselves to 
obey the Pope. 

The following is the oath taken by every Popish 
bishop on his consecration. It was abreviated in com- 
pliance with a request from this country, by the Pope in 
1846, but nothing in sentiment or spirit was omitted : 

ROMISH BISHOP'S OATH. 

"I, G. N., elect of the Church of I^., from henceforth will 
be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the Apostle, and to the 
holy Eoman Church, and to our lord, the Lord N., Pope !N"., 
and to his successors canonically coming in. I will neither ad- 
vise, consent, nor do any thing that they may lose life or 
member, or that their persons may be seized or hands any 
wise laid upon them, or any injuries oifered to them, under any 
pretense whatsoever. The counsel which they shall intrust me 
withal, b}'" themselves, their messengers, or letters, I will not 
knowingly reveal to any, to their prejudice. I will help them 
to defend and keep the Eoman Papacy and the royalties of St. 
Peter, saving my order against all men. The legate of the 
apostolic see, going and coming, I will honorably treat, and 
help in his necessities. The rights, honors, and privileges, and 
authority of the holy Eoman Church, of our lord the Pope and 
his aforesaid successors, I will endeavor to preserve, defend, 
increase, and advance. I will not be in any council, action, or 
treat}'^, in which shall be plotted against our said lord, and the 
said Eoman Church, any thing to the hurt or prejudice of their 
persons, right, honor, state, or power; and if I shall know any 
such thing to be treated or agitated by anj* whomsoever, I will 
hinder it all that I can; and, as soon as 1 can, will signify it 
to our said lord, or to some other, by whom it may come to 
his knowledge. The rules of the Holy Fathers, the apostolic 
decrees, ordinances, or disposals, reservations, provisions, and 
mandates, I will observe with all my might, and cause to be 

12 



178 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

observed by others. Heretics, scbismatics, and rebels to our 
said lord, or his aforesnid successors, I will to the utmost of 
my power persecute and oppose. I will come to a council when 
I am called, unless I be hindered by a canonical imj^cdiment. 
I will b}' mj'self, in person, visit the threshold of the apostles 
every three j^^ears ; and give an account, to our lord and his 
aforesaid successors, of all my pastoral office, and of all things 
any wise belonging to the state of my Church, to tlie discipline 
of my clei-gy and people, and, lastly, to the salvation of souls 
committed to my trust; and will, in like manner, humbly re- 
ceive and diligently execute the apostolic commands. And if 
I be detained b}' a lawful impediment, I will ^^erform all the 
things aforesaid by a certain messenger hereto specially em- 
powered, a member of my chapter, or some other in ecclesias- 
tical dignity, or else having a .parsonage; or, in default of 
these, by a priest of the diocese; or, in default of one of the 
clergy (of the diocese), by some other secular or regular priest 
of approved integrity and religion, full}' instructed in all things 
above mentioned. And such impediment I will make out, by 
lawful proof's, to be transmitted by the aforesaid messenger, to 
the cardinal projDonent of the holy Eoman Church, in the con- 
gregation of the sacred council. The jjossessions belonging to 
my table 1 will neither sell nor give away, nor mortgage, nor 
grant anew in fee, nor any wise alienate — no, not e^en with 
the consent of the chapter of my Church — without consulting 
the Roman Pontiff. And if I shall make any alienation, I will 
thereby incur the penalties contained in a certain Constitution 
put forth about this matter. 

"So help me God and these holy Gospels of God." 

A large portion of the Popish priests in this country 
are from Maynooth College, in Ireland. The following is 
the oath taken by them on being admitted to the order 
of priests : 

ROMISH PRIEST'S OATH. 

"I, A. B., do acknowledge the ecclesiastical power of his 
holiness and the mother Church of Rome, as the chief head and 
matron above all pretended Churches throughout the whole 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 179 

earth ; and that my zeal shall be for St. Peter and his succes- 
sors, as the founder of the true and ancient Catholic faith, 
against all heretical kings, princes, stales, or powers repugnant 
unto the same; and although I, A. B., may follow, in case of 
liersecution, or otherwise to be heretically despised, yet in soul 
and conscience I shall hold, aid, and succor the mother Church 
of Eome, as the true, ancient, and apostolic Church ; I, A. B., 
further do declare not to act or control any matter or thing 
prejudicial unto her, to her sacred orders, doctrines, tenets, or 
commands, without leave of its supreme power or its authority, 
under her appointed, or to be appointed; and, being so per- 
mitted, then to act, and further her interests more than my 
own earthly good and earthly pleasure, as she and her head, his 
holiness, and his successors, have, or ought to have, the su- 
premacy over all kings, princes, estates, or powers whatsoever, 
either to deprive them of their crowns, scepters, powers, priv- 
ileges, realms, countries, or governments, or to set up others 
in lieu thereof, they dissenting from the mother Church and 
her commands." 

Many Jesuits are in this country, and their number 
is rapidly multiplying. The following is the oath they 
take on joining the order : 

THE JESUITS OATH, 

"I, A. B., now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessed 
Virgin Mar}', the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed 
St. John the Baptist, the holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, 
and all the saints and sacred host of heaven, and to you, my 
ghostly father, do declare from my heart, without mental reser- 
vation, that his holiness, Poj^e , is Christ's vicar-general, and 

is the true and only head of the catholic or universal Church 
throughout the earth ; and that, by the virtue of the keys of 
binding and loosing, given to his holiness by my Savior Jesus 
Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, 
commonwealths, and governments, all being illegal without his 
sacred confirmation, and that they may safely be destroyed: 
therefore, to the utmost of my power, I shall and will defend 
this doctrine, and his holiness's rights and customs, against all 



180 A UBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

usurpers of the heretical (or Protestant) autliority whatsoever; 
especially against the now pretended authorit}^ and Church of 
England, and all adherents, in regard that tliey and she be 
usurpal and heretical, opposing the sacred mother Church of 
Rome. I do renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any 
heretical king, prince, or state, named Protestants, or obedience 
to any of their inferior magistrates or officers. I do furtJjer 
declare, that the doctrine of the Church of England, the Cal- 
vinists, Huguenots, and of others of the name Protestants, to 
be damnable, and they themselves are damned, and to be 
damned, that will not forsake the same. I do further declare, 
that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his holiness's 
agents, in any place wherever I shall be in England, Scotland, 
and Ireland, or in any other territory or kingdom I shall come 
to, and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestant's 
doctrine, and to destroy all their pretended powers, regal or 
otherwise. I do further promise and declare, that notwith- 
standing I am dispensed with, to assume any religion heretical, 
for the propagating of the mother Church's interest, to keep 
secret and private all her agents' counsels, from time to time, as 
they intrust me, and not to divulge, directly or indirectly, by 
word, writing, or circumstance whatsoever, but to execute all 
that shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me, 
by you, my gliostly father, or any of this sacred convent. All 
which, I, A. B., do swear by the blessed Trinity, and blessed 
Sacrament, which 1 am now to receive, to perform, and on my 
part to keep inviolably ; and do call all the heavenlj^ and glo- 
rious host of heaven to witness these my real intentions to keep 
this m}^ oath. In testimony hereof I take this most holy and 
blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist; and witness the same fur- 
ther with my hand and seal, in the face of this holy convent, 
this day of— — , An. Dom." etc. 

OATH OF A LATMAN. 
COMMONLY CALLED THE CREED OP POPE PIUS IV. • 

"I, "N". 'N., with a firm faith, believe and profess all and every 
one of those things which arc contained in that creed which 
the holy Boman Church maketh use ot to-Avit: I believe in 
one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 181 

all things visible and invisible: and in one Lord Jesus Christ, 
the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all 
ages; God of God; Liglit of liglit; true God of the true God; 
begotten, not made; consiibstantial with the Father, by whom 
all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, 
came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost 
of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified 
also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried. And 
the third daj'- lie rose again, according to the Scriptures; ho 
ascended into heaven, sitLeth at the right hand of the Father, 
and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the 
dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. I believe in 
the Hoi}' Ghost, the Lord and the life-giver, who proceedeth 
from the Father and the Son : who, together \vith the Father 
and the Son, is adored and glorified ; who spake by the 
prophets. And in one holy. Catholic, and Apostolic Church. 
I confess one baptism foi* the remission of sins; and 1 look 
for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to 
come. Amen. 

"I most steadfastly admit and^ embrace the apostolical and 
ecclesiastical Traditions, and all other observances and consti- 
tutions of the same Church. 

"I also admit the Holy Scriptures, according to. that sense 
which our holy mother the Church hath held and doth hold, 
to whom it belongcth to judge of the true sense and interpre- 
tation of the Scriptures; neither will I ev^er take and interpret 
them otherw^ise than according to the unanimous consent of 
the Fathers. 

" I also profess that there are truly and properly Seven 
Sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our 
Lord, and necessarj^ for the salvation of mankind, though not 
all for every one, to-wit: Baptism, Confirmation, the Euchai'ist, 
Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony; and that 
they confer grace: and that, of these, Baptism, Confirmation, 
and Orders can not be repeated without sacrilege. I also re- 
ceive and admit the received and approved ceremonies of the 
Catholic Church, used in the solemn administration of the 
aforesaid Sacraments. 

"I embrace and receive all and every one of the things 



182 AVRICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of 
Trent, concerning original sin and justification. 

" I profess, likewise, tliat in the Mass there is offered to God a 
true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead. 
And that in tlie most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there 
is truly, really, and substantially the Body and Blood, together 
with the Soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that 
there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread 
into the Bod}^, and of the whole substance of the wine into the 
Blood; which conversion the Catholic Church calleth Transub- 
stantiation. I also confess that under either kind alone Christ 
is received whole and entire, and a true Sacrament. 

"I constantly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that the 
souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages of the 
faithful. 

"Likewise, that the saints reigning together with Christ 
are to be honored and invocated, and that they offer prayers 
to God for us, and that their relics are to be had in veneration. 

"1 most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the 
Mother of God ever Vii-gin, and also of other saints, ought to 
be had and retained, and that due honor and veneration are to 
be given them. 

"I also affirm that the power of Indulgences was left by 
Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most whole- 
some to Christian people. 

"I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Eoman 
Church for the mother and mistress of all Churches; and I 
promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor of St. 
Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. 

"I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things 
delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and Gen- 
eral Councils, and particularl}^ b}^ the hol}^ Council of Trent. 
And I condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary 
thereto, and all heresies which the Church hath condemned, 
rejected, and anathematized. 

" I, K. l!^., do at this present freely profess and sincerely hold 
this true Catholic faith, out of which no one can be saved: 
and I promise most constantly to retain and confess the same 
entire and inviolate, by God's assistance, to the end af my life.'' 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 183 

With such fearful obligations binding their con- 
sciences, how is it possible for any true Papist to be a 
true and loyal citizen of this Republic? 

Commencing with the blasphemous assumption of 
the Pope's i n fallibility , and consequent temporal suprem- 
acy, we have a consecutive chain of oaths, binding 
bishops, priests, Jesuits, and the laity, in obedience to 
the Pope, and the confessional to enforce the obligation, 
under penalty of eternal perdition if they fail to comply' 
with the dictations of the Pope. 

The confessional furnishes every fficility to detect 
and punish the slightest delinquency on the part of any 
member of the Church. 

This system of Popery is worse than a military des- 
potism. The commander-in-chief of an army might 
court-martial and shoot to death an insubordinate officer 
or soldier, and there his power would end. Not so with 
the Pope of Rome. He claims the power, not only to 
put men to death, but to consign to endless perdi- 
tion — all who reject his authority. Romanists believing 
he is possessed of such power, dare not disobey him. 
And if the Pope of Rome to-day Avere to declare the 
Constitution of the United States adverse to the inter- 
ests of Popery, every orthodox Papist in the world 
would accept the declaration and unite with the Pope to 
destroy the Constitution. The Pope's curse of excom- 
munication absolves subjects from their oaths of alle- 
giance or fealty. If Pope Pius should issue an order to 
his bishops in America to control the Roman vote for 



184 AUBICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

any given sectarian purpose, or to destroy our system 
of free schools, every priest and layman would be under 
obligation to obey their ecclesiastical superiors. 

If the poor old imbecile at Rome should determine 
to re-enact the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, the Gun- 
powder Conspiracy, or the scene of the invincible Ar- 
mada, it would only be requisite to issue his orders, 
and his loyal subjects would be bound to obey him. 

The hundreds of thousands of Jesuits, Fenians, Hi- 
bernians, Knights of St. Patrick, and other societies, 
many of whom are thoroughly armed, and under the 
command of the clergy, would spring to arms at the tap 
of a drum. 

Where is the necessity for the secret, oath-bound po- 
litical and military societies of Papists in our midsts 
under clerical dictators? Where is the necessity for 
armed companies of Romanists in our large cities, known 
nominally as "home guards?" These' military organiza- 
tions hold their secret meetings, which, taken in connec- 
tion with public boasts and threats, are significant, and 
should not be lightly esteemed by American patriots. 
Romanists in high position have boasted of their plans 
and purposes. 

A Roman Catholic Council which met in Baltimore 
a few years since, issued a circular which contains the 
following language : 

"God has given us a work to do here in this now world, 
which, Avith boundless energy, is just springing into the full ex- 
pansion of its strength and resources. The mission of Cath- 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 185 

olics is to convert the world. Our special and instant mission is 
to convert our country! If we do not succeed, we shall bo 
scarcely in our graves when the deluge of impiety will sweep 
over the land, destro^'ing both the Church and the State. In 
truth, they do not read the times nor the country aright, who 
dream that there is any middle course to be 2)ursued. We must 
give religion to our political liberties, or our liberties, like an 
unregulated steam-engine, will shatter and dash in pieces, not 
itself alone, but us also. The United States must become a 
Catholic country, or it will fiist of all lose the vague sense of 
religiousness that still checks its madness; then rush into po- 
litical radicalism and democratic robbery." 

Brownson, the champion of the Papacy, indorsed 
by twenty-four bishops, says : 

"The Church may be assailed — will be assailed; but we 
know it is founded on a rock; and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. It is now firmly eslablished in this country, 
and persecution will but cause it to thrive. Our countrymen 
ma}^^ be grieved that it is so; but it it useless for them to kick 
against the decrees ot' Almighty God. They have had an open 
field and fair play for Protestantism. Here Protestantism has 
had free scope; has reigned without a rival, and proved what 
she could do, and that her best is evil; for the very good she 
boasts is not hers. A new day is dawning on this ciiosen land; 
a new chapter is about to open in our history, and the Church 
to assume her rightful position and influence. Ours shall yet 
become consecrated ground; and here the kingdom of God's 
dear Son shall be established. Our hills and valleys shall yet 
echo to the convent bell. No matter who writes, who declaims, 
who intrigues, who is alarmed, or what leagues are formed, 
this is to be a Catholic county; and from Maine to Georgia, 
from the broad Atlantic to the broader Pacific, the clean sacri- 
fice is to be offered daily for the quick and the dead." 

These words are not original with Brownson ; they 
are but an echo of the voice of the Boman Church, and 
they clearly indicate the plans and purposes of that in- 



186 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

tolerant sect. Our system of religion and goyernment 
is pronounced a failure, and Romanism is urged upon us 
as our only refuge from ruin. 

The Romish Church has, at this moment, three 
powerful organizations at work in our midst to subvert 
the institutions of this country and establish Popery on 
the ruins thereof. The Propagandi, or society for the 
propagation of the Romish faith. It was organized with 
special reference to the establishment of Romanism in 
America. Its heads are at Paris, Lyons, and Venice. 
It has the special charge of convents and hospitals, 
largely controlled by female Jesuits, who are experts in 
proselyting, and these institutions are established for 
that purpose. A thorough education would thwart their 
purposes. Their object is a superficial literary, but a 
thorough Roman education. In a word, their chief busi- 
ness is to proselyte the daughters of wealthy or influen- 
tial Protestants. A thorough literary American educa- 
tion is not desired. Independent, intelligent thought 
would blast their hopes. Special attention is given to 
ornamental culture, especially needle-work, embroidery, 
and a smattering knowledge of painting, music, French, 
Latin, or something to catch the eye or ear of superficial 
Protestants. 

In brief, their whole energies are directed to prose- 
lyte Protestant daughters to Romanism. If a young 
lady is wealthy they urge her by all means take the veil 
and become a nun, and that moment all her property drops 
quietly into the coffers of the Church. The vows of 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 187 

poverty and celibacy seal her destiny, and a few years 
will probably consign her to a premature grave. 

If she will not take the veil, then compass sea and 
land to marry her to a Papist, and thus control her 
money ; but if she persists in marrying a Protestant, 
then rigorously apply the discipline and dogma of the 
Church — show her that Bishop Purcell says : 

"In the first place, the inarriage of a Catholic with an un- 
baptizcd pei'son, unless a dispensation be previously obtained, 
is null and void and illicit and criminal." 

"■ Tlie subject of mixed marriages, that is the marriages of 
Catholics with Protestants, is one which we can not here omit, 
or delegate to another. It is a subject of paramount impor- 
tance to the purity of the Catholic faith and the peace of 
families." 

"The only occasion when the Catholic Church yields her re- 
luctant consent to a mixed marriage is, when tiie Protestant 
part}^ solemnlj" promises not to interfere with the faith of the 
Catholic party, and to suffer the offspring, that may result from 
the union, both male and female, to be baptized and educated 
in the Catholic faith." 

Impress upon her mind that "she can not expect to 
be happy here with one from whom she must forever be 
separated hereafter." 

Impress upon her mind the fact that Pope Pius YII, 
in 1808, said that " The marringe of Protestants is not 
valid ; that their wives are concubines and their chil- 
dren are bastards, and that Catholics themselves are not 
lawfully married except in accordance with the ritual 
of the Church." And if all these things fail, refer her 
to the fact that if she marries a Protestant, she can not 



188 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

be married by a priest, unless she and her betrothed 
will first solemnly swear to have their children baptized 
and raised in the Roman Church, and that she must bind 
herself to do all she can to proselyte her husband to the 
Roman faith, and that if they fail to comply with these 
obligations they will perjure themselves. 

And as authority for this obligation, refer her to 
"Plain Talk about Protestantism of To-day," by Patrick 
Donohoe, of Boston, which is being sold on both conti- 
nents with the approbation of bishops. The instruc- 
tions are as follows : 

"mixed marriages. 

"When one party is Catholic and the other is not, the mar- 
riage is called mixed. 

" The Church grieves at such rparriages. The}' exliibit great 
indifference in niatters of religion, and often entail tlie non- 
Catholic training of the offspring. For my part, I can not 
understand how a Christian, a Catholic, can be so forgetful of 
objects divine, as to choose for a companion in life a heretical 
woman, to be the mother of his children, the directress of his 
domestic life. 

"The Church leaves no means untried to make us feci how 
repugnant these marriages are to her. She refuses them the 
enhancing majesty of her wedding ritual, and positively for- 
bids her ministers to take any other part in them but that of 
a witness. Hence such mai-riages are contracted outside the 
Church, in the vestry, — no blessing, no prayer, no holy water, 
no surplice, no stole. Moreover, the betrothed, on both sides, 
must bind themselves, beforehand, and under a solemn oath, 
to raise in the Catholic Church all the children that ma}- issue 
from their marriage, both boys and girls. Unless this oath is 
taken, the Church will not permit a mixed marriage to be con- 
tracted. 

"When 3'ou then meet the child of a mixed marriage raised 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 189 

in Protestantism, know that the parents have perjured them- 
selves. 

"And were even all conditions requisite for such deplorable 
unions fulfilled, and the matrimonial bond siLmed before a 
priest, let it be known that the- Catholic party is forbidden to 
go before a Protestant parson. It would be a participation 
with heretics in sacred things, and a culpable allowance in 
favor of heresy." 

"The Catholic partj' must also promise to do every thing, 
by word and example, to bring about the conversion of the 
non-Catholic." 

"Once married in the Catholic Church, what do j'ou need at 
the meeting-house? Not the matrimonial bond, for you are 
already joined in it. If 3'ou only go for the purpose of hear- 
ing some fine passages of the Eible relating to matrimony, it 
is not worth the scandal you give, and you can as well read 
them at home. 

"Mixed marriages are a token of weakened faith. IS'o 
Christian will ever stoop to such a religious incongruity, unless 
he be lost to all sentiments of Catholic dignity. (Pp. 147, 148.) 

Thus, by this one stroke of policy, if they ever 
have a family, all are pledged to Popery before they are 
born, and the husband must come in with the rest, or 
be hen-pecked, through the confessional, during life. 

This may be regarded as a slow process of proselyt- 
ing. Be it so; it is terribly sure. If there be mothers 
in the future, the present daughters are prospectively 
the future mothers. Hence the importance of proselyt- 
ing them, in order to control the rising and future gen- 
erations. Ignore the fact as we may, it is nevertheless 
true that mothers shape the religious character of chil- 
dren and youth. Probably not one father in a thousand 
ever taught a child the Lord's Prayer. 



190 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

The mother controls the infant mind. Impressions 
made by her are seldom effaced; hence the fearful re- 
sponsibility of training the infant mind in error. 

" 'T is education forms the common mind ; 
Just as twig is bent the tree 's inclined." 

Romanists have caught this Catalinean idea, and they 
are corrupting the youth, in order to control the nation. 
This accounts for their zeal for Roman schools and con- 
vents in this country. Nearly three-fourths of the people 
in Italy and Spain can neither read nor write, and other 
Papal countries present simihir facts. Hence, this pre- 
tended zeal for education is not for a thorough literary 
education, but a thorough Roman education, in subordi- 
nation to the sworn enemies of American liberty. 

The appeals to Rome for aid to establish schools in 
America indicate their purposes. Bishop David, of 
Kentucky, in his foreign correspondence, said : 

"Had I treasures at my disposal, I would multiply colleges 
and schools for girls and boys; I would consolidate all these 
establishments, by annexing to them lands or annual rents; I 
would build hospitals and public houses; in a word, I would 
compel all my Kentuckians to admire and love a religion so 
beneficent and generous, and perhaps I should finish by converting 
them:' (Quarterly Eegister, vol. 2, 1830; p. 194.) 

Again, the same bishop says: 

"In twenty jubilees, wherein I have presided, more than 
forty Protestants have entered the Church ; a great number 
still are preparing to share the same happiness; and I have 
hardly gone over the half of Kentucky. (Quarterly Kegister, 
vol. 2, 1830 : p. 197.) 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 191 

These boasts were not made to be read by American 
Protestants, but, being intercepted, were translated by 
an American, and sent home for publication. We might 
multiply evidence on this subject, but for the present a 
few examples may suffice. The Tablet has an article on 
"Catholics and Public Schools," which may shed light 
on this subject, when taken in connection with the fact 
that every country is ignorant and degraded in proportion 
to the unrestrained teaching and influence of Home. 

The Tablet says : 

"The education itself is the business of the spiritual society 
alone, and not of secular societ3\ The instruction of children 
and youth is^ included in the sacrament of orders, and the 
State usurps the functions of the spiritual society when it turns 
educator. The secular is for the spiritual, is subordinated to 
religion, which alone has authority to instruct man in his 
secular duties, and fit him for the end for which his Creator 
has created him. The organization of the schools, theii* entire 
internal arrangement and management, the choice and regula- 
tion of studies, and the selection, a^Dpointment and dismissal of 
teachers, belong exclusively to the spiritual authority." 

It is a significant fact that these American convents 
are largely patronized by Protestants, and could not be 
sustained w^ithout them. Hundreds of thousands of 
Homanists are growing up in ignorance and sin, Avhile 
Komanists are compassing sea and land to entice the 
daughters of influential and wealthy Protestants into 
their proselyting schools. 

Again we say, Protestants, beware of convents and 
Jesuit schools ! They are aiding in a great conspiracy 
against civil and religious liberty. The Bible says 



192 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

"children shall rise up against their parents and cause 
them to be put to death ;" and there is no other influence 
on earth so well adapted to cause them to do it as the 
instruction and influence of female Jesuits in convents. 

The society known as the "Leopold Foundation" 
next demands attention. It is also aiding in the great 
conspiracy against the Government of the United States 
and civil and religious liberty. 

It was organized in 1829, and its history is briefly 
given. Schlegle, a learned lecturer, delivered a series of 
lectures before the Austrian Cabinet, in 1828, in which 
he endeavored to show that Homanism and monarchical 
governments sympathized Avith and mutually sustained 
each other, and that Protestantism and a democratic 
government mutually sustained each other. He endeav- 
ored to show that the Government of the United State 
Avas the "hotbed" of European revolutions, and that it 
must be destroyed, or the crowned heads of Europe 
would fall. 

Pursuant to these lectures, it is said that the Rev. 
Bishop Reese, at that time Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
went over to Austria, in 1829, and drew up the Consti- 
tution for the Leopold Society; that the Emperor of 
Austria became President, and the Secretary of Austria 
Secretary, of the society; that the Pope of Rome blessed 
the organization, contributed to its funds, and granted 
indulgences to all who contribute to it. And, since 
1829, it has continued to send funds to Jesuits in 
America, with the avowed object of subverting the 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED, 193 

Government of the United States, in order to establish 
Popery. 

When Ave mention Jesuit, we pronounce the syn- 
onym of all villainy. There is not a law of God or man 
that may not, consistent with his creed, be violated 
with impunity, for the good of the Church. And there 
is not a Government in the world, of any distinction, 
except the United States, from which Jesuits have not 
been expelled, or in which they have not been suppressed, 
for treason against Church and State. They have re- 
cently been expelled from Italy, Spain, and Mexico, and 
suppressed in Germany. 

They are concentrating in North America, and the 
Boston Pilot boasts that they have more Jesuits in Amer- 
ica than in any portion of Europe, in proportion to the 
Roman Catholic population; and, without the spirit of 
inspiration, we venture an opinion that we will never 
have permanent peace in the United States till this 
treasonable organization is expelled or disbanded. 

It is a singular fact that, at the present time, Roman- 
ists are making unprecedented efforts to put their patrons 
and friends into position and power. 

It is a singular fact that the two men of the army 
next to the President of the United States are under 
Roman influence — one, if not both, held as members of 
the Church. 

It is also a singular fact that, during the late troubles 
of our country, many of the officers of the army were 
Papists; and, when they marched through the South, 

13 



194 AURICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Protestant Church property was often damaged or 
destroyed. 

There is evidently some secret Jesuit influence con- 
trolling the appointing power. And if those in authority 
are not apprised of this, it is on that account the more to 
be deprecated. Politicians and men of the world are so 
much engrossed with business that they lose sight of 
these matters, and it would be an easy matter for Jesuit 
influence to be imperceptibly brought to bear at Wash- 
ington City, to stab to the heart the liberties of this 
nation. At a time like this, it certainly becomes every 
Christian and patriot to look well to these matters, and the 
ministers of Jesus Christ to lift a warning voice against 
the encroachments of the Pnpacy. 

The London Emigrant Society was organized with 
direct reference to the propagation of Popery in the 
United States. It is reported to have been organized by 
Roman Catholic bankers, and other men of wealth in 
London. Its branches extend to the different parts of 
Europe. They mapped the North-western States and 
Canada as their first field, and more recently have 
included the Southern States. 

In their "Emigrant's Guide," which specifies their 
object and contains their map, we have the following 
territory: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
the eastern borders of Minnesota, loAva, and Missouri, 
together with Canada West. This was their first field. 

The substance of their plan was : 

1. To send the surplus population of Europe; that is, 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 195 

the pauper and criminal population, who are a tax and a 
burden to them there. 

2. To do it such a way as to create a demand for 
articles of British manufacture. 

3. To establish Romanism in the North-west. 
Every Papist aided by that society is required to 

obligate himself or herself to come to the parish of a 
priest, or in charge of a priest, and labor for three years 
on a bare subsistence, and, through the authorized col- 
lector, send the proceeds of their labor to the society. 

Thus, American gold goes to Europe, and we get in 
exchange rags, infinitely worse ragged paupers, and crim- 
inals, to fill poor-houses and prisons, and tramp from door 
to door, and from city to city, an intolerable nuisance. 
States, cities, counties, towns, and individuals are taxed 
to support Roman Catholic thieves and paupers, system- 
atically imported by the minions of the Pope. 

And it is not enough to tax the country on account 
of their poverty and crime; but, to add insult to injury, 
the Roman clergy are using them against our system of 
free schools, against virtue, morality, and religion. They 
are the dupes of Popery, the slaves of the clergy, and 
the pliant victims of partisan demagogues. They are 
now being colonized throughout the United States, and 
their influence is worse than pestilence in any community. 
Life and propevty are no longer secure where they have 
the ascendancy. 

This accounts for the fact that all Northern and 
Western cities are overrun with paupers and criminals. 



196 A UPdCULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

and often the laws of God and man are set at defiance 
by brutish mobs. 

This also accounts for the fact that unscrupulous 
demagogues often occupy seats in legislative and congres- 
sional halls, when honest men and men qualified for the 
position, are utterly ignored. 

This accounts for the fact that many of our large 
cities are governed by ignorant Papists, the Sabbath laws 
are trampled to the dust, and the accursed liquor-traffic 
is on the increase. 

This is what the Duke of Richmond, a Romanist, 
said was the plan to destroy the liberties of this country. 
He was once Governor of the Canadas, and, in a speech 
at Montreal, he is reported as saying : 

"The Government of the United States ought not to stand, 
and it will not stand. But it will be destroyed by subversion, 
and not by conquest. The plan is this : to send over the sur- 
plus [pauper] population of Europe. They will go over with 
foreign views and feelings, and will form a heterogeneous mass, 
and in course of time will be prepared to rise and subvert the 
Government." 

" The Church of Eome has a design upon that country. 
Popery will in time be the established religion, and will aid in 
the destruction of that Republic. I have conversed with many 
of the sovereigns and princes of Europe, and they have unan- 
imously expressed their opinion relative to the Government of 
the United States, and their determination to subvert it." 

Judge Haliburton, a Roman Catholic, gentleman, in a 
pamphlet, asserts that 

"All America will be a Catholic country. The Roman 
CJatholic Church bids fair to rise to importance in America. 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 197 

They gain constantly. They gain more by emigration, more 
by natural increase in proportion to their numbers, more by 
intermarriages, adoptions, and conversions, than Protestants. 
With their exclusive views of salvation and peculiar tenets, as 
soon as they have a majorit}', this becomes a Catholic country, 
with a Catholic government, with the Catholic religion estab- 
lished by law. Is this a great change? A greater change has 
taken j^lace among the British, the Medes and the Persians of 
Europe, the nolumus leges mutari people." 

Again, he says, with emphasis, indicated by capitals : 

"The co-operation of other European nations in promoting 
the objects of the society is most desirable, particularly those 
possessing a redundant population; that is, Eoman Catholic, 
etc. The western districts may be said to have a particular 
claim on the patronage of France, as it was under their former 
sovereignty that their vast resources, and facility of connection 
between the Northern Lakes and the. first navigable tributaries 
of the Mississippi, were discovered by those enterprising and 
amiable French Jesuit Missionaries, Hennepin and La Salle. 
As to Belgium and Germany, it is almost needless to call on 
them for greater support than is already furnished by the mass 
of the Catholic population daily flowing from those kingdoms 
into the fertile West." 

Bishop England, late of Charleston, South Carolina, 
who, it is understood, was the Inquisitor-General of the 
Jesuits, on his return from Europe, in an address to his 

diocese, said : 

"In Paris, and at Lyons, I have conversed witli those ex- 
cellent men who manage the affairs of the association for 
propagating the faith. I have also had opportunities of com- 
munication with some of the council which administers the 
Austrian Association. The Propaganda in Eome has tiiis year 
contributed to our extraordinary expenditure, as has the holy 
father himself." 



198 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

An editor of a Catholic journal in Euro23e, says, when 
speaking of these missions at the West: 

"We must make baste — the moments are precious. America 
may one day become tlie center of civilization, and shall truth 
or error tbere cstablisb its empire? If tbe Protestants are 
before us, it will be difficult to destroy their influence." 

Their object is to gain a balance of political poAver, 
and establish Romanism by law. Mr. Brownson, the 
champion of Romanism, admits this f^ict, and after 
stating that the Catholic Church has a design upon this 
country — that it is their purpose to possess this coun- 
try — that they are aided in this work by all the Catholic 
prelates and priests, he makes the following significant 
declaration : 

"Heretofore we have taken our politics from one or another 
of the parties which divide the country, and have suffered the 
enemies of our religion to impose their political doctrines upon 
us; but it is time for us to begin to teach the country itself 
those moral and political doctrines which flow from the teach- 
ings of our own Church. We are at home here, wherever we 
may have been born ; this is our countr}^, as it is to become 
thoroughly Catholic, we have a deeper interest in public affairs 
than any other of our citizens. The sects are only for a day; 
the Church forever." (Brownson 's Eeview.) 

It is not by mere accident that Papists throughout 
the land act in concert, and vote together. And for the 
benefit of ill-informed and unsuspecting Protestants who 
imagine that Roman priests "never meddle with pol- 
itics," we insert the following facts : 

"In Michigan, the Bishop Eichard, a Jesuit (since deceased), 
was several times chosen delegate to Congress from the terri- 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 199 

tory, the majority of the people being Catholics. As Protest- 
ants became more numerous, the contest between the bishop 
and his Protestant rival was more and more close, until at 
length, by the increase of Protestant emigration, the latter tri- 
umphed. The bishop, in order to detect any delinquency in 
his flock at the polls, had his ticket printed on colored paper. 
Whether any were so mutinous as not to vote according to or- 
ders, or what penance was inflicted for disobedience, I did not 
learn. The fact of such a truly Jesuitical mode of espionage I 
have from a gentleman resident at that time in Detroit. Is 
not a fact like this of some importance? Does it not show 
that Popery, with all its speciousness, is the same here as else- 
where? It manifests, when it has the opportunity, its genuine 
disposition to use spiritual power for the promotion of its tem- 
poral ambition. It uses its ecclesiastical weapons to control an 
election. 

"In Charleston, S. C, the Roman Catholic Bishop, England, 
is said to have boasted of the number of votes that he could 
control at an election. I have been informed, on authority 
which can not be doubted.^ that in New York, a priest, in a late 
election for city oflicers, stopped his congregation after mass 
on Sunday, and urged the electors not to vote for a particular 
candidate, on the ground of his being an anti-Catholic; the 
result was fhe election of the Catholic candidate." (Foreign 
Conspiracy, by Samuel F. B. Morse, A. M., pp. 93, 94.) 

The following extract, from the pen of 0. A. Brown- 
son, the great champion of Romanism, in the Quarterly 
Review.^ of 1845, speaks with the approbation of the Ro- 
man Catholic bishops, as follows : 

''But would you have this country under the authority of 
the Pope? Why not? 'But the Pope w^ould take away our 
free institutions!' Nonsense. But how do you know that? 
From what do you infer it? After all, do you not commit a 
slight blunder? Are j'our free institutions infallible? Are 
they founded on divine right? This you deny. Is not the 
proper question for you to discuss, then, not whether the Pa- 
pacy he or he not compatihle with republican government^ but 



200 AUBICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

whether it bo *or be not founded in divine right? If the Pa- 
pacy be founded in divine right, it is supreme over whatever 
is founded only in human right, and then 3-our institutions 
should bo made to harmonize with it, not it Avith 3'onr institu- 
tions. The real question, then, is, not the compatibility or in- 
comi^atibiiity of the Catholic Church with democratic insti- 
tutions, but, is the Catholic Church the Church of God? Set- 
tle this question first. But, in point of fact, democracy is a 
mischievous dream, wherever the Catholic Church does not 
predominate to inspire the people with reverence, nnd to teach 
and accustom them to obedience, to authority. The first lesson 
for all to learn, the last that should be forgotten, is, to obey. 
You can have no government where there is no obedience; 
and obedience to law, as it is called, will not long be enforced 
where the fallibility of law is clearly seen and freely admitted. 
But 'it is the intention of the Pope to j^ossess this country?* 
Undoubtedly. 'In this intention he is aided by the Jesuits 
and all the Catholic prchites and priests,' undoubtedl}^, if 
they are faithful to their religion." 

"That the policy of the Church is dreaded and opposed, 
and must be dreaded and opposed by all Protestants, iufidels, 
demagogues, tyrants and oppressors, is also unquestionably 
true. Save, then, in the discharge of our civil duties, and in 
the ordinary business of life, there is, and can be, no harmony 
between Catholics and Protestants.'* 

This language can not be misunderstood. Brownson 
speaks with the full indorsement of twenty-four Roman 
bishops in America. 

The Freeman s Journal says : 

"Irishmen learn in America to bide their time; year by 
year the United States and England touch each other more 
powerful in America. At length the propitious time will 
come — some accidental, sudden collision, and a Presidential 
campaign at hand. They will want to buy the Irish vote, and 
we will tell them how they can buy it in a lump, from Maine 
to California — by declaring war on Great Britain, and wiping 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 201 

off at tlie same time the stains of concessions and dishonor 
that our Websters, and men of this kind, have permitted to 
be heaped on the American flag by the violence of British 
agents." 

The Irish Journal, of New York, says : 

" For every musket given to the State armory, let three be 
purchased forthwith. Let independent companies be formed, 
thrice numerous as the disbanded corps — there are no arms 
acts here, yet — and let every 'foreigner' be drilled and trained 
and have his arms always ready. For you may be sure (hav- 
ing some experience in the matter) that those who begin by 
disarming you, mean to your mischief. ... Be careful not 
to truckle in the smallest particular to American prejudices. 
Yield not a single jot of your own ; for you have as good a 
right to your prejudices as they. Do not, by any means, suf- 
fer Gardner's Bible (the Protestant Bible) to be thrust down 
your throats." 

Americans (and Protestants) pause and consider. Is 
there nothing significant in the above? What means 
this hatred to the Bible, this instigating national and 
sectarian prejudices, this purchasing muskets, this arm- 
ing and drilling Irish independent companies with arms 
alwai/s ready "^ If there are not arms acts by which to 
disarm and disband such fanatics there ought to be. 
It is an insult to American citizens and Protestants of 
all denominations. And there is not the shadow of a 
pretext for such treasonable declarations or demonstra- 
tions. They are, in their lawful rights, protected as 
other citizens, and if they were not, there is a remedy 
without resorting to arms under the instigation of an 
alien clergy. It certainly is time to disband and disarm 
the secret Homan military organizations in our midst. 



202 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Brownson admits that hitherto they hare been act- 
ing the part of fawning sycophants, truckling to political 
parties. These are not his words, but these are the 
facts, and their object has been to obtain position, power, 
and financial aid to build up and sustain Popery. Now 
they are stronger, and propose to teach the country po- 
litical Romanism. He says to Romanists : 

"This is our country, as it is to become thoroughly Cath- 
olic. We have a deeper interest in the public affairs than any 
other citizens. These sects (that is, Methodists, Baptists, Pres- 
byterians, elc.) are only for a day; the Church (that is, the Eo- 
man sect) forever." 

This Lingunge is plain and unequivocal, and ought to 
be sufficient to define their pLins and purposes. 

Another illustration of the plans and expectations of 
Romanists is contained in significant hints in a recent 
lecture of Rev. Edward M'GIynn, a Roman clergyman, 
at the Cooper Institute, New York. He chose, for his 
subject, " Our Religious Destiny," and in summing up 
the substance of his lecture, he said : 

" This countrj' must become Catholic, or else our religious 
history will not be as God designed it to be. The Catholic re- 
ligion is grand enough, broad enough, noble enough, wise and 
prudent enough, and divine enough to bless and sanctify all the 
countless cnei-gies and indomitable will, the ardent affections 
and keen intelligence of this American nation. [Applause.] 
He believed for himself that the future religion of this country 
ought to be Catholic. Whether it will or not, is another ques- 
tion. This is the religion that is destined to prevail in this 
land. . . . All other Churches are local and national. 
The Catholic religion only is a unity and universal, and this 
nation must yearn for a religion that blesses and sanctifies the 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 203 

Union, and teaches its people to labor for the preservation of 
the Union, and to make the Union of these States lasting and 
perpetual. [Applause.] It is only the Catholic religion that 
recommends and blesses unit}', and gives additional ties to that 
Union Avhich is an instinct of the American heart. Tlie Cath- 
olic religion, therefore, ought to be the religion of the country, 
and, consequently, it must in the future be the religion of the 
countrj^; for it is the best calculated to bless and sanctify all 
that is noble in it, and to bless and sanctify the glorious in- 
stinct of union which, next to tlie love of liberty, is the most 
powerful and all-controlling instinct of the American heart. 
(Boston Pilot.) 

Here is a genuine specimen of Jesuit hypocrisy, 
and an appeal to patriots under pretext of being the 
friends of common liberty. 

How long has it been since the Pope of Rome 
crushed the Italian patriots, and re-established the In- 
quisition in Rome ? How long since the Pope advocated 
a dissolution of this union of States? How long since 
eleven out of thirteen of the Roman Catholic papers 
of the United States were notoriously disloyal, and the 
Freemans Journal twice suppressed for its treasonable 
sentiments? How long since Roman Catholics were en- 
deavoring to establish Romanism, by Maximilian, on the 
ruins of liberty in Mexico ? How long since the Fenians, 
aided by unscrupulous demagogues, were filibustering on 
the Canadian border, not to promote liberty and union, 
but to mature plans for a permanent dissolution of the 
Union, and the establishment of Popery by legal enact- 
ments ? 

In the late troubles of our country, the Pope knew 
that in the North, through his abject minions, he held 



204 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

the balance of power; and that, if he could dissolve the 
Union, and annex Cuba and Mexico, he would hold the 
balance of power in the South. He cared nothing for 
the peace and harmony of this countr}^. North or South; 
but he thought he saw an opportunity to promote his 
sordid purposes, regardless of consequences. 

If the Pope and his clergy are the friends of a pure 
democratic republic, why do they not manifest it in 
Mexico, Cuba, Italy, and in other countries, where pa- 
triots are pining in prisons, or struggling in blood for 
liberty? Is a professedly infallible Church one thing in 
in Italy and another in America, the friend of liberty here 
and of monarchy there? Believe it who can, I can not. 

In the recent Fenian raid into Canada, the plan 
obviously contemplated: 

1. A severance of Canada from the British Crown. 

2. A temporary/ confederacy. 

3. Annexation to the United States. 

4. By annexation and emigration, an overwhelming 
controlling power at the ballot-box. 

5. Gradual enactments, to establish Romanism by 
law, and enforce its observance under penalties. 

6. By this gradual process, dissolve all the bonds of 
national unity, and invest the Roman clergy with that 
ecclesiastical and temporal power which they have sacri- 
legiously usurped over downtrodden Italy. 

It remains to be seen whether they shall fully realize 
their expectations. Their purposes have been thwarted, 
which requires a change in tactics, and a modification of 



PAPAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 205 

their plans, so as to identify themselves more fully with 
the interests of partisans. 

Addressing the German and Irish population, Eev. 
E. M'Glynn said : 

"Americanism absorbs us, and the sooner we become Amer- 
icanized the better. There is no use in fighting against fate. 
You may hold out for a while, claiming that you are Irish; but 
your children will be American, and will glory in the name. 
And the sooner the Catholic religion becomes Americanized 
the better. Catholic people have an extraordinary way of 
propagating themselves, and that is a serious question to take 
into' consideration. The country must remain one; and, as it 
is extending itself in every direction, the question arises, How 
will the whole country be peopled? The wealth of this coun- 
try is its population ; and there is no religion like the Catholic 
for spreading its population over the earth. And that is an- 
other fact showing that the religion of the country must be 
Catholic." 

This is plain language, and may be easily understood ; 
but think of it — " Catholic religion Americanized P^ A 
wolf in sheep's clothing! the devil transformed into an 
angel of light ! 

A new feature has recently developed itself as a part 
of the great Roman conspiracy. It is known as the 
Catholic Union. 

The following "Special Dispatch" to the St. Louis 
Republican^ as found in that paper, November 29, 1871, 
may shed light on this subject : 

^^New York, November 2Sth. — Thanksgiving-day will be no- 
table in the Catholic Churches of this country for one important 
event, the introduction of the Catholic Union to the public. 
It will celebrate the day with great pomp in St. Patrick's 



206 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

Cathedral, the Archbishop of New York, Dr. M'Closkey, par- 
ticipating, and the chancellor of the archdiocese, Father Pres- 
ton, probably the most eloquent preaclier of the metropolis, 
preaching the address. Ti»e Catholic Union is the most im- 
portant confederation that the Catholics of this country have 
yet projected. The objects are the union of Catholics for the 
protection of the regents of the Catholic Churcli, especially 
those of the Pope. Its special mission will be to band together 
lay Catholics, and to employ them more in the service of the 
Church than hitherto has been done. It is expected by its 
friends that, when the organization of the union is completed, 
the Catholics of this country will attain that influence which 
their numbers entitle them to, but which they have not yet 
obtained in these States. The object of the union is not polit- 
ical, so far as America is concerned; but it can be readily seen 
that, should any such movement as the Know-nothing ever 
threaten the privileges of Catholic or foreign-born citizens, this 
body would present an unbroken front which might well awe 
any persons proposing unconstitutional infringement of their 
rights. This, however, is not the object of the organization. 
It will co-operate with the Catholic unions abroad in aiding the 
Pope in his present difficulties, according to the necessities of 
the hour. It is expected that each diocese in the country'- will 
form a circle. The circle in New York is already in active 
operation, and includes the most thoughtful and influential 
Catholics in the metropolis." 

The manifest Jesuit proclivities of the St. Louis 
Republican give special significance to the above commu- 
nication, and ought to awaken apprehension on the part 
of all true Protestants and patriots. The following sug- 
gestive features of the telegram are worthy of notice : 

1. " The Catholic Union is the most important con- 
federation that the Catholics of this country have yet 
projected." 

2. '* The objects are the union of Catholics for the 



^APAL CONSPIRACY AIDED. 207 

protection of the regents of the Catholic Church, especially 
those of the Pope." 

3. " Its special mission will be to band together lay 
Catholics, and to employ them more in the service of the 
Church than has hitherto been done." 

4. " It is expected by its friends that, when the or- 
ganization of the union is completed, the Catholics of 
this country will attain that influence which their num- 
bers entitle them to, but which they have not yet ob- 
tained in these States." 

5. "It will co-operate Avith the Catholic unions abroad 
in aiding the Pope in his present difficulties, according to 
the necessities of the hour." 

6. " It is expected that each diocese in the country 
will form a circle," etc. 

Here we have the framework of a secret political and 
military Roman Catholic organization, in league with sim- 
ilar organizations abroad, to aid the Pope of Rome to 
crush the spirit of civil and religious liberty. The effort 
to deny that it is a political Roman Catholic organization 
exhibits a transparent falsehood, and the conditional 
threat of an "unbroken front" (at the ballot-box) dis- 
closes its true object. 

The existence of such an organization, composed of 
Roman Catholics who are the subjects of an ecclesiastical 
despot, under ecclesiastical tyrants who have no common 
interest with the people, should awaken apprehension, 
and stimulate Protestants and patriots to organize for the 
maintenance of civil and religious liberty. 



208 AURICULAR CONFESSION UXPO^^D. 

The fact that Roman Catholics have in our midst 

secret military organizations, with arms and ammunition, 

can not successfully be denied. The Fenians alone boast 

of three hundred thousand available men. armed and 

• 
equipped for battle. They are not going to Ireland. 

They would accomplish nothing in Canada; and if those 

arms are ever used, they will be used against true patriots 

and Protestants in America, probably at the ballot-box. 

Slumbering Americans awake ! and organize on a true 

Protestant basis for the protection and perpetuation of 

civil and religious liberty. By the love you bear to God, 

to posterity, and your country's liberty, we again call 

upon you to awake and protect your country against the 

aggressive efforts of the enemies of civil and religious 

liberty; and may the God of truth and justice arm you 

for the contest, and crown your efforts with triumphant 

success. 



ROMISR INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 209 



CHAPTER XYIII. 

ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED THROUGH THE CON- 
FESSIONAL. 

T)ROPHECY and providence indicate the present as 
"^ one of the most eventful periods of the world's 
history. Great principles are involved, great powers are 
in commotion, great questions are being solved, and great 
results are anticipated. The nations of the world are 
in commotion, the rights of men are the subject of dis- 
pute, and universal liberty or protracted despotism will 
be the result. The questions will soon be decisively 
answered, whether man is, or is not, competent to gov- 
ern himself; whether Bible is, or is not, the only infal- 
lible rule of faith and practice, whether the religion of 
Jesus Christ is, or is not, adapted to the condition of the 
whole world, and Avhether its successful propagation is 
to be attained by the power of God's love, or the brute 
force of man. 

These adverse and conflicting principles are . incorpo- 
rated into, and form a constituent part of two great ec- 
clesiastical systems which can not be harmonized. Both 
can not be right, both can not be true. The triumph of 
the one will be destructive of the other. They are 

known and denominated as Romanism and Protestantism. 

14 



210 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

If Romanism be true, Protestantism is heresy. It 
is more — it is what they say of it, "damnable heresy;" 
but if Protestantism be true, Romanism is a trinity of 
superstition, idolatry, and priestcraft. Now what are 
the f^icts. The Roman sect is the embodiment of eccle- 
siastical intolerance, and with its principles the mon- 
archs and despots of earth affiliate. Protestantism is 
the reverse of all this. It is the living embodiment of 
the great principles of civil and religious liberty, predi- 
cated upon the rights of men, in conformity to the prin- 
ciples of justice and the word of God. Protestantism 
recognizes civil and religious liberty as among the dear- 
est of man's inalienable rights. It regards them as in- 
wrought in the constitution of man by the Creator. It 
permits man the use of reason, the light of revelation, 
and makes him socially, civilly, and morally, what he 
was intended to be — the arbiter of his own destiny, 
amenable to God and the just enactment of man, wisely 
instituted for the regulation of society. 

Protestantism and a free democratic republic are mu- 
tually independent of each other, and yet harmonize, 
and each contributes to the strength of the other. Their 
spheres of action are entirely different, yet they are 
destined to stand or fall together. Man can only wor- 
ship God in spirit and in truth when he expresses his 
unrestrained volition; and unrestrained volition can only 
be exercised under a free, tolerant government. It 
therefore becomes a matter of necessity, involving the 
destiny of men, that national and individual liberty be 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED, 211 

maintained, and that the Church and State exercise 
their powers and privileges independent of each 
other. 

The Iloman sect regards the Church as supreme, and 
the authorities of the State subordinate to the dictation 
of ecclesiastical rulers, who govern by divine right. 
These two systems are inherently antagonistic. A fear- 
ful and final conflict between them is inevitable. The 
martial hosts are gathering to the great battle, and 
Providence points, as with the finger of destiny, to the 
Western Valley as the culminating point at which the 
combined forces will concentrate their energies. Here, 
in the great West, the hottest of earth's battles is 
to be fought, the greatest of earth's victories to be 
achieved. We do not regard it as a war of words, or 
as a conflict of opinion only, but of great principles, 
involving the destiny of millions, for time and for 
eternity. 

The conflict, has commenced in words; it may end 
in blood; and is certainly time for Protestants to awake 
from their long slumber, and cast an eager eye around 
to discern the signs of the times. It certainly is time 
that Protestants should seriously consider Avhat would 
be the consequences if Homanism should gain the 
ascendency in this country, as they boast they will. 
We have seen that a great Roman conspiracy is formed 
to destroy civil and religious liberty. 

By reference to the files of the Shepherd of the Vol- 
lei/, November 1851, and published in St. Louis, with 



212 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

the cipprob.ition^of the Archbishop, we have the follow- 
ing significant language : 

"The Clmrch is of necessity intolerant. Heresy she endures 
when and where she must; but she hates it, and directs all her 
ener<i^ies to its destruction. If Catliolics ever gain an immense 
numerical majority, religious freedom in this country is at an 
end. So our enemies saj^ ; so we believe." 

" Ilures}^ and unbelief are crimes; that is the whole of the 
matter. And in Cl»ristian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for 
instance, wljere all the people are Catholics, and where the 
Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, 
they will be punished as other crimes." 

These sentiments were not indorsed by a secular pa- 
per then published in St. Louis, to which the bishop's 
organ replied : 

"Amongst our Catholic contemporaries, the Catholic Herald 
was almost alone in its strictures: others, as the Filot^ copied 
our article and indorsed what Ave said. The character of our 
journal was not called in question; and no editor, we think, 
has ever ventured to make our own character the subject of 
debate. We told the truth, and nothing but the truth; and it 
is not fair to sacrifice us to the prejudices of ill-instructed and 
timid Catholics, or of heretics whose delicate nerves a hold state- 
ment of Catholic doctrine may happen to shocks 

These sentiments of the bishop are fully indorsed by 
other distinguished Romish ecclesiastics on this continent. 

According to the doctrine of the E-oman Catholic 
Church, all Protestants are heretics, and all heretics 
ought to be put to death, their property confiscated and 
turned over to those who will put them to death, and 
hold it for the true Church. 

This is as truly the doctrine of the Homan Catholic 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 213 

Church to-day in America, as it was in Spain when the 
Inquisition was successfully employed to exterminate 
heretics. The difference is, this is yet a Protestant 
country, and that was a Catholic country. This permits 
the liberty of conscience, that did not. The intolerant 
doctrines of the Church are not changed in the smallest 
degree for the better. We have before us the "Moral 
Theology" of St. Liguori, published in 1846, Peter Dens, 
bearing date 1864, and St. Thomas, published in 1870, 
and which teach, in the clearest possible terms, that 
heretics ought to be put to death. These are secret 
books of the Roman clergy in our midst, and the guide 
of the clergy in the confessional and other duties. 
Peter Dens says : 

"Notorious heretics are infamous of course, and are deprived 
of ecclesiastical burial. 

"Their temporal goods are, of course, confiscated: yet a de- 
claratory opinion concerning the crime from the ecclesiastical 
judge, ought to precede the execution: because the cognizance 
of heresy belongs to the ecclesiastical court." 

"Finally, they are deservedly visited with other penalties, 
even corporal, as exile, imprisonment," etc. 

"Are heretics rightly punished with Death? St. Thomas 
answers in the affirmative. Because forgers of money, or 
other disturbers of the State, are justly punished with death; 
therefore also heretics, who are forgers of the faith, and as ex- 
perience shows, greatly disturb the State. . . . This is con- 
firmed by the command of God under the old law, that the 
false prophets should be killed. . . . The same is proved 
by the condemnation — by the fourteenth article — of John Huss 
in the council of Constance." 

In a recent suit in court, in Kankakee City, Illinois, 
between Rev. Charles Chenequy and Bishop Foley, of 



214 A URICULAR COI^FESSION EXPOSED. 

Chicago, these facts were brought out in a damaging 
way. Rev. Mr. Chenequy had been a French priest, but 
renounced Romanism and retained his congregation and 
Church property. The bishop brought suit to dispossess 
him and the congregation of the property. The bishop 
was required to testify under oath, which he did re- 
luctantly. 

With the "Moral Theology" of St. Liguori and St. 
Thomas in his hands, he certified that they were of the 
highest authority in his Church on both continents, used 
in their colleges and universities, and had never been 
repealed. 

Then the bishop was requested to read in Latin, and 
translate into English, the following laws and fundamental 
principles of action against the heretics, as explained by 
St. Liguori and St. Thomas ; 

READ BY THE BISHOP. TRANSLATED BY THE BISHOP. 

"Excommunicatus privatur "An excommunicated man 
omni alia civili communica- is deprived of «/? civil eommu- 
tione fidelium, ita ut ipse non nication with the faithful, in 
possit cum aliis, et, si non sit such a way that if he is not 
toleratus, etiam alii cum ipso tolerated they can have no 
non possint communicare; id- communication with him, as it 
que in cassibus hoc versu com- is in the following verse: 'It 
prehensis: Os, orare, vale, com- is forbidden to kiss him, pray 
munio, mensa negatur." (St. with him, salute him, to eat 
Liguori, tom. 9, 162.) or to do any business with 

him.'" (St. Liguori, vol. 9, 

p. 162.) 

" Quanquam hcretici toler- " Though heretics must not 

andi non sunt ipso illorum de- be tolerated because they de- 

merito, usque tamen ad secun- serve it, we must bear them 

dem correctionem expectandi till, by a second admonition, 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 



215 



sunt, ut ad sanam redeant ec- 
clesise fidem ; qui vero, post 
securidam correctionem, in suo 
errore obstinati permanent, non 
modo excommunication is sen- 
ten tia, scd etiam sajcularibus 
principibus exterminandi, tra 
dendi sunt." (St. Tomaso, tom. 
4, 91.) 

" Quanquam heretici rever- 
tentes, semper recipiendi sint 
ad psenitentiam quoties cumque 
relapsi fuerint; non tamen sem- 
per sunt recipiendi et restitu- 
endi ad bonoruni hnjus vitse 
participationem . . . recip- 
iuntiir ad paenitentiam . . . 
non tamen ut liberentur a sen- 
tentia mortis." (St. Tomaso, 
tom. 4, 91.) 

" Quum quis sententiam de- 
nuntiatur propter apostasiam 
excommunicatus, ipso facto, 
ejus subditi a dominio et jura- 
men to fidelitatis ejus liberati 
sunt." (St. Tomaso, tom. 4. 94.) 



they may be brought back to 
tl»e faith of the Church. But 
those who, after a second ad- 
monition, remain obstinate in 
their errors, must not only bo 
excommunicated, but thcj^ must 
be delivered to the secular 
power, to be exterminated." 
(St. Thomas, vol. 4, p. 91.) 

" Though the heretics who 
repent must always be ac- 
cepted to penance as often as 
they have fallen, they must not, 
in consequence of that, always 
be permitted to enjoy the ben- 
efits of this life. . . . When 
the}" fall again, they are ad- 
mitted to repent . . . but 
the* sentence of death must not 
be removed." (St. Thomas, 
vol. 4, p. 91.) 

"When a man is excommu- 
nicated for his apostas}", it fol- 
lows from that very fact that 
all those who are his subjects 
are released from the oath of 
allegiance by which they were 
bound to obey him." (St. 
Thomas, vol. 4, p. 94.) 



The next document of the Church of Rome brought 
before the Court was the Act of the Council of Lafceran, 
A. D. 1215. But as the Latin text is too long, we Avill 
give only the translation, as it was read under oath : 

"We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy that 
exalts itself against the holy, orthodox, and Catholic faith^ 
condemning all heretics, by whatever name they may be 



216 A URICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED, 

known; for, though their faces differ, they are tied together 
by their tails. Such as are condemned are to be delivered 
over to the existing secular powers, to receive due punish- 
ment. If laymen, their goods must be confiscated. If priests, 
the}' shall be first degraded from their respective orders, and 
their property applied to the use of the Church in which they 
have ofi[iciated. Secular powers of all ranks and degrees are 
to be warned, induced, and, if necessar}^ compelled, by ecclesi- 
astical censures, to swear that they will exert themselves to 
the utmost in the defense of the faith, and extirpate all heretics 
denounced by the Church who shall be found in their terri- 
tories. And whenever any person shall assume goverment, 
whether it be spiritual or temporal, he shall be bound to abide 
by this decree. 

"If any temporal lord, after having been admonished and 
required by the Church, shall neglect to clear his territory of 
heretical depravity-, the .metropolitan and the bishops of the 
province shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he re- 
main contumacious a whole year, the fact shall be signified to 
the supreme pontiff', who will declare his vassals released from 
their allegiance from that time, and will bestow his territory 
on Catholics, to be occupied by them, on the condition of 
exterminating the heretics and preserving the said territory 
in the faith. 

" Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination 
of heretics shall enjoy the same indulgences, and be protected 
by the same privileges, as are granted to those who go to the 
help of the Holy Land. We decree further, that all who may 
have dealings with heretics, and esj^ecially such as receive, de- 
fend, or encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall 
not be eligible to any public oflSce. He shall not be admitted 
as a witness. He shall neither have the power to bequeath 
his property by will nor to succeed to any inheritance. He 
shall not bring any action against any person, but any one can 
bring an action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision 
shall have no force, nor shall an}'^ cause be brought before him. 
Should he be an advocate, he shall not be allowed to plead. 
Should he be a law} er, no instruments made by him shall be 
held valid, but shall be condemned, with their author." 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 217 

The Roman Catholic bishop swore that these laws 
had never been repealed, and, of course, that they were 
still the laws of his Church. He had to swear that, 
every year, he was bound, under pain of eternal damna- 
tion, to say in the presence of God, and to read in his 
Breviarium (prayer-book), that "God himself had in- 
spired" what St. Thomas had written about the manner 
in which the heretics should be treated by the Roman 
Catholics. 

With an alien priesthood under a professedly infalli- 
ble Pope, and with a system of intolerant theology con- 
trolling a deluded and fanatical people by promises of 
heaven and threats of hell, where is there national or 
individual security? 

Let the fact be impressed deeply in the mind of 
every patriot, that these intolerant doctrines are now in- 
culcated all over this land in the highest theology of the 
Roman Church ; and we have the original Latin theology 
to prove it, and defiantly challenge the Roman clergy to 
deny or disprove the facts. 

Bonif^ice YIII is numbered in the list of popes 
through whom Pope Pius IX received his infallibility. 
He declared, in his "Unam Sanctam :" 

"TJtcrque est in potestate "Either sword is in the 

ecclesiae, sj)irituali8 scilicet power of the Church; that is 

gladius ct materialis. Sed is to say, the spiritual and the 

quidem pro ecclesia, ille vero material. The former is to be 

ah ecclesia exercendus ; ille used by tlie Church, but the 

sacerdotis, in manu regum ac latter /or the Church: the one 

militum, sed ad nutum et pa- in the hand of the priest, the 



218 4UEICULAB CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

TENTiAM SACERDOTis. Opoi'tet Other in the hand of kings and 

autem gladium esse subgladio, soldiers, but at the will and 

et temporalem auctoritatem pleasure of the priest. It is 

spiritual! snbjiei potestati. right that the temporal sword 

PoRRO subesse ROMANO PONTIP- and authority be subject to the 

ici OMNI HUMANE CREATURE Spiritual power. Moreover, 

DECLARAMUS, DICIMUS, DEFINI- WE DECLARE, SAY, DEFINE, AND 
MUS, ET PRONUNCIAMUS OMNINO PRONOUNCE THAT EVERY BEING 
ESSE DE NECESSITATE FIDEI." SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO THE Eo- 

MAN PONTIFF, TO BE AN ARTICLE 
OF NECESSARY FAITH." 

At least six of the highest judicial councils of the 
Romish Church, with the Pope at their head, have sol- 
emnly enjoined the persecution and extermination of 
heretics. 

The duty of putting heretics to death, is among the 
inffiUible and irrevocable decrees of its General Coun- 
cils, and has been indorsed by the Church as fully as 
the doctrines of mass, purgatory, etc. 

"N'o computation can reach the numbers who have been put 
to death, in different ways, on account of their maintaining the 
profession of the Gospel, and opposing the corruj)tions of the 
Church of Eome. A million of poor Waidenses perished in 
France; nine hundred thousand orthodox Christians were 
slain in less than thirty years after the institution of the order 
of the Jesuits. The Duke of Alva boasted of having put to 
death in the Netherlands, thirty-six thousand by the hand of 
the common executioner during the space of a few years. The 
Inquisition destroyed, by various tortures, one hundred and 
fifty thousand within thirty years. These are a few speci- 
mens, and but a few, of those which history has recorded ; but 
the total amount will never be known till the earth shall dis- 
close her blood, and no more cover her slain." (Scott's Church 
History.) 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 219 

"A heretic, examined and convicted by the Church, used to 
bo delivered over to the secular povrer, and punished with 
death. Nothing has ever appeared to us more necessary. 
More than one hundred thousand persons perished in conse- 
quence of the heresy of Wyclif, a still greater number for that 
of John Huss, and it would not be possible to calculate tho 
bloodshed caused by Luther; and it is not yet over." (Paris 
XJnivers.) 

"Ko good government can exist without religion ; and there 
can be no religion without an Inquisition, which is wisely 
designed for the promotion and protection of true faith." 
(Boston Pilot.) 

The Pittsburg Catholic, alluding to the suppression of 
the Protestant Chapel at Rome, in 1848, says : 

"For our own part, we take this opportunity of expressing 
our hearty delight at the suppression of the Protestant Chapel 
at Eome. This may be thought intolerant; but when, we 
would ask, did we ever profess to be tolerant of Protestantism, 
or favor the doctrine that Protestantism ought to be tolerated? 
On the contrary, we hate Protestantism; we detest it with our 
whole heart and soul, and we pray that our aversion to it may 
never decrease. We hold it meet that in the Eternal City no 
worship repugnant to God should be tolerated, and we are 
sincerely glad that the enemies of truth are no longer allowed 
to meet together in the capital of the Christian world." 

" Protestantism of every form has not, and never can have, 
any rights where Catholicity is triumphant." (Brownson's 
Quarterly Eeview.) 

"You ask if he [the Pope] were lord of the land, and jou 
were in a minority, if not in numbers, j^et in power, what 
would he do to you? That, we say, would depend on circum- 
stances. If it would benefit the cause of Catholicism, he would 
tolerate you ; if expedient, he would imprison you, banish 3'ou, 
fine you — possibly, he might even hang you; but be assured 
of one thing, he would never tolerate you for the sake of the 
'glorious princij^les of civil and religious liberty.* " (Eamblcr.) 



1^ 20 A URICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

" The sorriest sight to us is a Catholic throwing up his cap 
and shouting, 'Ail hail, democracy.'" (Brovvnson's Eeview, 
October, 1851 ; pp. 655, 558.) 

These extracts might be greatly multiplied; but, by 
common consent, actions speak louder than words. 

It is estimated by credible historians, that, since the 
birth of Popery in 606, Rome has slaughtered, for the 
crime of heresy, by Popish persecutors, an averoge of 
more than forty thousand of the human family for 
every year of its existence. 

The average number of victims yearly was much 
greater during the dark ages, when Popery was in her 
glory, and reigned despot of the world ; Avhen, by the 
terrors of excommunication and interdiction, she com- 
pelled princes to butcher their heretical subjects. 

Before dismissing this subject, pause, and ask your- 
self: Did the Prince of Peace descend to earth to estab- 
lish a civil despotism ? Is the God of love the author 
of religious intolerance ? Did he who wept at the grave 
of Lazarus sanction the spirit of the Inquisition? Did 
he who prayed for his enemies, when expiring on the 
cross, institute the flames of auto-da-fe? Did he who 
said, " Suffer little children and forbid them not to come 
unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven," require 
that their sleeping dust, when bereft of the spirit, should 
only find a grave in the potter's-field ? Did he who said, 
"I am the way, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, 
I give unto them eternal life," transfer his power and 
authority over the way of life and destiny of immortal 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 221 

souls, to murderers and assassins? Believe it who can. 
I could sooner believe that wolves had been divinely 
appointed shepherds, and hyenas the protectors of helpless 
infancy. I could as soon believe that devils had become 
intercessors, and hell had been translated to paradise. 

In view of past history, the intolerant spirit of 
Popery, the efforts Romanists are making to subvert this 
Government, and their avowed plans and purposes to de- 
stroy civil and religious liberty, we again appeal to Chris- 
tians and patriots to awake and prepare for the conflict. 

We especially appeal to ministers, who stand as 
watchmen, can " ye not discern the signs of the times ?" 
Shall the voice of prophecy and providence be unheeded? 
Shall the sword come and the people be not w^nrned. 

Brethren of the ministry, of all Protestant Churches, 
permit me to appeal to you, by the love you bear to 
your country, to posterity, to the souls of men, to the 
Bible, to the Church, and to God. Lift your w^arning 
voice against the aggressions of Popery ! Bally the sac- 
ramental hosts in defense of the Bible, in defense of free- 
schools, in defense of virtue, in defense of liberty, and 
in defense of that faith once delivered to the saints; 
and may God Almighty help you ! 

Closing the volume, we address to all true patriots a 

WARNING VOICE. 

Bomanism and Christianity are antagonistic. Be- 
tween them there is, of necessity, an irrepressible con- 
flict. This conflict is destined to be the great conflict 



222 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

of the nineteenth century. Prophecy and providence 
indicate that the present generation ^vill be required to 
assume fearful responsibilities. Whatever may be the 
great revolutions or changes in society, they Avill ulti- 
mately merge into one final struggle between Truth and 
Error, Light and Darkness, Liberty and Despotism, 
Christ and Antichrist. 

. In America, Rome is making vigorous efforts to 
regain her lost power. Iler plan embraces the entire 
Western Continent. Her chosen field for special effort 
is North America; her center of operation, the North- 
western States and Canada. i 

Her plans have special reference to emigration, edu- 
cation, and an aggressive effort among the Indian and 
colored population. Her efforts are systematically di- 
rected against the Protestant Bible, Free Schools, and a 
Democratic Republic. In this, Rome is aided by the 
Austrian and other despotic powers. A storm is gather- 
ing — dark clouds environ our horizon ; the Sun of Liberty 
sheds a feeble ray, while many Christians and patriots 
seem to apprehend no danger. 

The conflicts of partj^ spirit are not the healthful 
concussion of jealous libert}^; but the paroxysms of 
envy, ambition, and deadly hate. Not the breath of the 
zephyr, nor the gentle undulations of the lake to prevent 
stagnation, but the perilous commotion of powerful 
elements. 

The stronghold of civil and religious liberty is in 
North America. 



ROMISH INTOLERANCE ENFORCED. 223 

Organized despotism, at home and abroad, is jealous 
of 'our civil and religious liberty. The American Re- 
public must be crushed, or the nations must be free. 
Protestantism must be exterminated, or Romish priest- 
craft will lose its power. Protestantism rocked the 
cradle of our liberties, defended our youth, and brought 
us up to noble manhood. Protestant Christianity is the 
guardian angel of civil and religious liberty. In it, our 
hope is anchored; without it, our destruction slum- 
bers not. 

God gave this country to our fathers as a Protestant 
land, in which to erect the Temple of Liberty. The 
Herculean work has been accomplished, and the temple 
stands, a monument of national glory, defying the earth- 
quake and the tempest. Upon its towering dome, which 
penetrates the skies, is inscribed to its Author, in letters 
of light : 

" Thj wisdom inspired the great institution, 

Thy strength shall support till nature expire; 
And, wlien creation shall fall into ruin, 

Its beauty shall rise through the mist of the fire." 

Let not this glorious temple be defiled by sacrilegious 
hands. Let not its sacred shrines be trampled by the 
foot of despotism. Let it never be forgotten, that 
"Eternal Vigilance is the Peice of Liberty." 

Under these impressions we write; and at the risk 
of being traduced and persecuted by Romanists, de- 
nounced by partisan demagogues, and sneered at by 
pseudo-Protestants, the truth has been, and shall be, 



224 AURICULAR CONFESSION EXPOSED. 

spoken in plain language, for which no apology is offered, 
or eulogy asked. 

And while we appeal to Christians and patriots for 
aid and co-operation in our great work, Ave would say 
to each : 

Guard well your sacred trust; transmit to posterity 

that civil and religious liberty Avhich w^as purchased by 

the blood of your fathers; and when, by the Great 

Architect, you shall be cnlled from labor to refreshment, 

let generations coming after inscribe to your memory: 

I 
" Now, shout the praise of those 
"Who triumphed o'er the foes 
Of God and Liberty !" 



THE END. 



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